| (1) | Contracting authorities may enter into one or more negotiated contracts or a combination of such contracts with operators in their areas, once only, with a view to— |
[Words preceding section 41(1)(a) substituted by section 21(a) of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 23 of 2023), Notice No. 4959, GG50800, dated 11 June 2024 - effective 12 September 2025 per Commencement Proclamation 289, GG53335, dated 12 September 2025]
| (b) | promoting the economic empowerment of small business or of persons previously disadvantaged by unfair discrimination; or |
| (c) | facilitating the restructuring of a parastatal or municipal transport operator to discourage monopolies. |
| (1A) | Where a negotiated contract is concluded in terms of subsection (1), the contracting authority is not precluded from— |
| (a) | concluding other such contracts with different operators or in respect of different routes, even if such routes are in the same area; |
| (b) | providing in such contract for the services to be provided under the contract to be increased or amended in a phased manner during the period of the contract: Provided that the total duration of the contract does not extend beyond 12 years; or |
| (c) | concluding stopgap contracts contemplated in section 41A. |
[Section 41(1A) inserted by section 21(b) of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 23 of 2023), Notice No. 4959, GG50800, dated 11 June 2024 - effective 12 September 2025 per Commencement Proclamation 289, GG53335, dated 12 September 2025]
| (2) | The negotiations envisaged by subsection (1) must where appropriate include affected operators on the relevant route or routes subject to interim contracts, subsidised service contracts, commercial service contracts, existing negotiated contracts and operators of unscheduled services and non-contracted services but the contracting authority may exclude from the negotiations operators or classes of operators— |
| (b) | where the contracting authority has made an offer in writing to an individual operator or class of operators in the prescribed manner and they have rejected the offer in writing within 42 days or have failed to respond to the offer within that time. |
[Section 41(2) substituted by section 21(c) of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 23 of 2023), Notice No. 4959, GG50800, dated 11 June 2024 - effective 12 September 2025 per Commencement Proclamation 289, GG53335, dated 12 September 2025]
| (3) | A negotiated contract contemplated in subsection (1) shall be for a period of not longer than 12 years. |
[Section 41(3) substituted by section 21(d) of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 23 of 2023), Notice No. 4959, GG50800, dated 11 June 2024 - effective 12 September 2025 per Commencement Proclamation 289, GG53335, dated 12 September 2025]
| (4) | The contracts contemplated in subsection (1) shall not preclude a contracting authority from inviting tenders for services forming part of the relevant network. |
| (5) | Contracting authorities must take appropriate steps on a timeous basis before expiry of such negotiated contract to ensure that the services are put out to tender in terms of section 42 in such a way as to ensure unbroken service delivery to passengers. |
| (6) | Section 42(6) applies with the necessary changes to negotiated contracts contemplated in this section. |
[Section 41(6) inserted by section 21(e) of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 23 of 2023), Notice No. 4959, GG50800, dated 11 June 2024 - effective 12 September 2025 per Commencement Proclamation 289, GG53335, dated 12 September 2025]
