18 Jan 2017

The Ministry of Transport and Communications initiative of issuing Professional Driving Permits (PrDPs) without drivers going through the olden process of having to pass through theory and practical tests to Class B holders and above has improved the lives of Batswana.

This initiative, born in 2015, was aimed at generating employment and gives rise to business opportunities to private car owners and drivers and was embraced by many, especially the unemployed youth who are now seemingly dominating the industry.

 In an interview with BOPA, some of the youth public transport drivers who acquired the PrDP through the new procedure explained that the new procedure glued broken pieces of their lives together.

One Mr Gofamodimo Moipolai, a 30 year-old in Francistown became a taxi driver after quitting his job as a driver at Buy n’ Build in 2016 to join the taxi business because he could not afford his day to day expenses and providing for his family needs.

“This permit has really worked for me extensively as I managed to buy a plot, my own vehicle that I am currently using. I used to earn less than P2000 monthly, which I could not sustain myself with and now I can save more than a thousand pula in a week, which is quite sufficient.” He said excitedly.

Ms Lesego Luckson, a 26 year-old mother of two, who drives a minibus in the Borolong route said before obtaining the PrDP through the initiative, she had failed more than three times consecutively, consequently leading her to quit the quest of getting the PrDP.

“I really want to applaud the government for having introduced this initiative of acquiring this permit as I have been unemployed for more than three years since I finished BGCSE and I have been suffering.

Now that I have got this permit and finally have a job, I am able to provide for my family,”she noted. One of the Monarch route taxi drivers, Mr Wanano Ramokgalo, aged 45, condemned some members who continue to pirate routes and operate taxis without legal permits, which degrades the taxi business.

He also urged commuters to desist from using unregistered vehicles and use blue registered number plates to avoid some incidences where some people get to be mugged of their valuables by such operators.ENDS