Question:
I would like to know whether it is mandatory for a seller/supplier of trailers/mobile VIP toilets to include a spare wheel. Furthermore, is it obligated as the owner to have one for roadworthy purposes?
Answer:
No, not as far as I know. The only place where the term spare wheel is used is in the definition of tare.
“tare”, in relation to a motor vehicle, means the mass of such vehicle ready to travel on a road and includes the mass of—
(a) any spare wheel and of all other accessories and equipment supplied by the manufacturer as standard for the particular model of motor vehicle concerned;
(b) anything which is a permanent part of the structure of such vehicle;
(c) anything attached to such vehicle so as to form a structural alteration of a permanent nature; and
(d) the accumulators, if such vehicle is self-propelled by electrical power, but does not include the mass of—
(i) fuel; and
(ii) anything attached to such vehicle which is not of the nature referred to in paragraph (b) or (c);
Many spare wheels do not allow for a speed of more than 60 or 80 km/h and does not comply to the normal requirements for tyres.
There are also new vehicles that have no more flat tyres and they are not sold with spare wheels at all.
Regards
Alta Swanepoel