Pretoria - Afinta Motor Corporation (AMC), the commercial vehicle manufacturer, had initiated - in collaboration with a driver-training organisation - a massive training programme to license drivers for the country`s emerging new fleets of commuter buses, Rob Drake, the marketing director of AMC, said last week.
Drake said an estimated 38 000 ``made-for-purpose`` buses would be put on the roads over the next four years under the government`s multibillion rand strategy to replace about 126 000 minibus taxis.
AMC is one of six manufacturers bidding to supply the 18 and 35-seater buses required under the government`s taxi recapitalisation programme.
Drake said the South African Taxi Council (Sataco), the largest single representative body of the taxi industry, would also be involved in the driver training programme. The programme was being directed by Skills Training Resources, a member of the Skills Resource Group (SRG). Drake said the joint AMC-SRG enterprise was not aimed only at raising the standards of driving but would also assist in the building of entrepreneurial businesses by the drivers.
``Many of the new drivers will have ambitions to become owner-drivers and to have their own bus companies. These will be a new breed of drivers, skillful and expertly trained, who will be given every opportunity to succeed in business,`` he said.
Drake said training would cover more than the theory and practice of advanced driving skills; it would encompass the business side too, with instruction in subjects such as financial management and insurance, the cashless smart card payment system and customer relations.
He said phase one of the driver training operation was due to get under way on May 11 in which 10 drivers would be put through a professional driver course and trained up to code 10 standard.