By RABECCA CHIPANTA –
The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has given Mazhandu Bus Services (MBS) a seven-day ultimatum to show cause why its Road Service Licence (RSL) should not be revoked or suspended for failure to comply with conditions to which it was granted.
RTSA senior public relations manager Fredrick Mubanga said the agency would be compelled to revoke or suspend the bus operators’ RSL if the company fails to show cause within the stipulated time.
Mr Mubanga expressed concern at the deteriorating services offered by the bus operator from 2013 to date citing a number of road traffic accidents involving Mazhandu buses.
Mr Mubanga said RTSA chief executive officer Zindaba Soko was compelled to write a letter to MBS management in line with subsection (16) of section 108 of the Road Traffic Act which empowers him to either suspend or revoke a RSL if the conditions subject to which it was granted were not being complied with.
He said that in his letter, Mr Soko said the agency had a responsibility of ensuring the safety of all road users and would in this regard not hesitate to invoke its powers under section 108 of the Act either to suspend or revoke the RSL of any operator that had a bad road safety record.
“RTSA has in possession accident records concerning your fleet ranging as far as 2013 showing that your record of operation increasingly deteriorated. Investigations into the cause of the crashes involving your fleet of buses revealed that all crashes occurred after the drivers lost control due to excessive speed leading to such accidents,
“Speeding is an offence under the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002 and the agency notes with concern that there is a growing tendency among public service vehicle drivers to drive at excessive speeds hence endangering the lives of the travelling public,” he said.
He said Mazhandu Bus Services had a duty to instruct its drivers to observe all traffic rules because any violations of the law on their part reflected on the company.
The letter further stated that as an operator, MBS was expected to comply with the provisions of the Act including the speed at which their vehicles were driven.