MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – “Makhado Municipality is unique,” was the answer to the question about why the long-standing problem between the driving schools and the municipality is now affecting the community.

Driving schools are prohibited from practising on the municipal testing grounds. Some schools have moved out to the “quiet residential areas without heavy traffic on the western side of the town,” as one driving school owner said this week.

A furious resident of Jeppe Street, Mr Daan Snyman, complained that “our beautiful, tranquil town has now become dirty and littered”. Mr Snyman objected to the fact that driving schools offload trucks full of people in the park across the street. He said that those people litter in the park, use it as a toilet and the whole situation poses a security risk.

Mr George Matshotshi from Simunye Driving School feels strongly about the fact that the municipal testing grounds should be open to driving schools.

“The testing grounds in Polokwane are open 24 hours per day. Road safety is a national issue and we as driving schools promote road safety. We pay a lot of revenue and should have access to the testing grounds,” Mr Matshotshi said. The owners of other driving schools all shared this view.

The Makhado Municipality’s Director of Community Services, Mr Mavhungu Musitha, repeated his strong stance on the matter on Tuesday.

“They will never be allowed in the testing grounds as long as I am director,” Mr Musitha said.

When asked why this practice is allowed in municipalities of other towns and cities, Mr Musitha said that Makhado Municipality is unique.

“It is my duty to protect the assets of this municipality,” Musitha said.

Concerning the regular crowd of people waiting outside the gate of the municipal testing grounds, Mr Musitha said that they are monitored and that he had not received any report of a health hazard there.

One driving school owner said that there had been no problems in the past when they were allowed to use the testing grounds.

“We even organized cleaners to clean up the litter there,” he said.

Another driving school owner said that they had explained in a letter a couple of years ago that the driving schools brought the municipality more than a million rand per year. After the letter, the then municipal manager allowed them to operate there with the proviso that they test their candidates at Makhado Municipality. They were then later prohibited to use the testing grounds any more. Even letters from attorneys on behalf of a driving school owner did not solicit a positive response.