All drivers shall:
- Drive in strict compliance with the requirements of the Road Traffic Ordinance.
- Be in possession of a valid driver’s license.
- Be in possession of the appropriate documentation as well as contact numbers for emergencies or when assistance is required – including the consignor, the consignee, the transporters, and 24-hour emergency contact numbers.
- Be in possession of a written or approved route plan, a contingency alternate route as well as a plan for emergencies.
- Know about the natural behaviour of the animals being transported – such as visual fields, flight patterns, the use of flap-sticks, boards, and electric prodders, as well as about disallowed handling methods.
- Ensure that the loading space of the vehicle is free of any objects or equipment such as wire, webbing, spades, spare wells, drums, or tools that may cause injury to animals being transported.
- Be responsible for ensuring that there are no rough edges, projecting plates, boards, or sharp ends and bent bars which may injure the animals.
- Be responsible for the correct aligning of the vehicle to the loading or offloading platforms to ensure that there is no space through which an animal could fall or be trapped.
- Be alert and in a fit state at all times for taking charge of a vehicle transporting.
- Not handle vehicles in a manner that may cause animals to slip, fall or be injured.
- Do not stop any longer than 30 minutes when transporting livestock.
- Park vehicles transporting livestock on level ground, preferably in a shaded and quiet area.
- Ensure delivery of the consignment of livestock to its destination within the scheduled time.
- Be aware that the faster the driving, the greater the temperature and wind-chill factor.
- Visually observe the animals being transported as frequently as circumstances permit, but not less than every 200 kilometres, to ensure that no animal is in obvious distress. If any distress is observed, immediate measures must be taken by the driver to relieve the animal.
- Be competent to assess such distress and be competent to take the necessary measures to alleviate or resolve the situation. In the case of an animal giving birth during transportation, immediately take measures to ensure the protection of the mother and offspring.
- In the case of an animal becoming unfit or severely injured, ensure that it is not carried for a period longer than necessary to get to the nearest place at which it can receive attention, such as a veterinary hospital, clinic, abattoir, auction pen, or a Police Station, for emergency humane destruction.
- In the event of a breakdown of the vehicle, or an accident or injury to any animal in transit, the carrier shall without delay contact assistance en-route, such as SAPS, traffic authorities, and breakdown services, and report the relevant details to the official in charge.
- Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be unlawful in the case of an emergency for a vehicle to be used as an ambulance to carry an unfit animal with all practical speed direct to a place for veterinary treatment, or to the nearest available place where the injured animal can be humanely killed.