Police have advised parents to be more vigilant when it comes to those responsible for transporting their children to and from school.
This was after Metro police, traffic services and Grassy Park police held a joint operation in De Wet Road, Ottery, on Friday May 10 and arrested a 49-year-old taxi driver from Parkwood who did not have a transport permit and appeared to be under the influence of drugs..
He was searched and found to be in possession of a tik lolly.
Nine high school pupils from a school in Diep River were in the Toyota Quantum taxi .
The man was arrested and the pupils taken to school.
Colonel Dawood Laing, station commander of Grassy Park SAPS, said parents must ensure that their drivers have the necessary paperwork to drive children around.
“Parents pay huge amounts of transport money to ensure that their kids are safe and transported to and from school daily. It’s the responsibility of the contractor to ensure that the driver paperwork is right. Grassy Park SAPS have a zero tolerance towards contractors who do not ensure that commuters, especially school children, who used public transport, are safe and arrive safely at their destinations,” he said.
The taxi driver appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession of drugs and the vehicle was confiscated and impounded.