Salutation,
Thanks very much for honouring our invitation this morning to join us as we officially mark the launch of our provincial chapter of the Festive Season Arrive Alive Campaign 2013. Welcome to this event as we move towards the end of the year, this has been an eventful one for the transport sector and our department in particular.
I would like to take this opportunity to particularly extend our heartfelt gratitude to the members of the media for their continuous support to our programmes. The media plays an important role in informing and educating the public and this helps government to deliver important messages to our people.
The recent tragedies
We meeting here today, a couple of weeks after one of the worst road crashes that took 30 lives on Moloto Road in Mpumalanga which affected Limpopo as well. Limpopo accounted for 4 lives out of the 30 lost. Just last week, 22nd November 2013 to be exact, we suffered yet another blow as a result of the N1 North bus crash disaster that took away 11 lives.
I wish to announce that all the deceased were confirmed to be Zimbabwean nationals. We are currently working closely with the Zimbabwean authorities including the Zimbabwean Ambassador to SA who came to visit the hospitalized survivor in Polokwane last week to repatriate the bodies’ back home. On the same day, 22 November, we received a report of yet another crash in Sekhukhune around Dennilton wherein a truck and a sedan took four more lives.
That means on that sad day we lost a total of 15 lives. Just yesterday, I attended a funeral in Madimbo, Mussina and later in the day learnt with shock that two of the mourners did not make it home alive, as a result of an accident that happed around Tshipise. This is indeed a tragedy. May their souls and those of many others who have perished on our roads rest in peace.
The festive season has landed
Our province will in the coming few days, experience a heavy influx of traffic volumes coming from all over the country and the Region. Some travellers will be heading towards Moria for the Christmas Pilgrimage while others will be going home to be with their loved ones and others heading to different holiday destinations in the province. As we welcome everybody to our province, we implore on road users to exercise extreme caution as our roads will be very busy.
Once again we meet here to recommit ourselves to the goals of the “Decade of Action for Road Safety” which serves as our reference point every time we embark on road safety matters.
The goal of the Decade of Action for Road Safety is to halt or reverse the increasing trend in road traffic fatalities around the world by developing and implementing sustainable road safety strategies and setting an ambitious yet feasible target for reduction of road fatalities by half in 2020.
The United Nations World Health Organization reminds us that by 2015, road crashes will be the number one killer of children aged between 5 and 14 in Africa, outnumbering Malaria and AIDS. We have to put the spanner in the wheels and stop the notoriety of our roads being fertile grounds for fatalities.
The primary contributory factors towards road crashes generally include excessive speeding, drinking and driving, texting and driving, fatigue and the reluctance to wear a seatbelt. According to a recent study done by Dr. Clint Hendrikse from University of Stellenbosch, School of Emergency Medicine – it has been found that, “the use of seat belts is one of the most cost effective and practical interventions to reduce injuries and death due to road traffic accidents.
Studies throughout the world have shown conclusively that seat belts save lives. They reduce the probability of being killed by 40-50 percent for drivers and front seat passengers, and between 25-75 percent for rear-seat passengers. But the harsh reality is that despite various campaigns and awareness programmes, people simply do not buckle up”. The significance of wearing a seat belt is second to none as those passengers who do not wear seat belts are not only a danger to themselves, but to fellow passengers as well.
As the department, we have travelled throughout the province during the October Transport Month raising awareness about the importance of road safety. We have been to various towns, townships, villages and schools promoting road safety. Our journey culminated with us handing out reflective belts and earrings to owners of livestock in Tubatse in our drive to stop road crashes and fatalities caused by stray animals.
Traffic accidents limit progress by killing and injuring the economically active among the country’s population. These are breadwinners in many households and one accident can destroy the livelihood chain of an extended family. The impact that road crashes have on our health system, economy and social welfare is underestimated and it continues to create a bleak outlook for the future.
With schools closing in our province this coming week, our roads and towns will be abuzz with activities as parents and their children will be going to towns and cities to indulge in Christmas shopping. Some parents will be giving their children cars to drive even when such children are not licensed to drive.
Our message is that by doing this, parents are not showing any love to their children, but throw them into deep trouble by allowing them to be behind the wheel while not licensed. Parents should refrain from this as unlicensed drivers are a danger to road users including pedestrians.
The conduct of our drivers
The tyre manufacturing company, Goodyear undertook a worldwide study into young drivers which showed that alarmingly many under 25 year old drivers in South Africa are ignoring the rules of the road and thus disrespecting the lives of their fellow road users. In the survey, 79% of young South African drivers admitted to speeding, the second highest number after Poland with 81%.
According to this study, this is not just a local problem, with 66% responding in the affirmative across all 16 markets surveyed. A frightening statistics is that South African drivers have topped the chart when it came to disobeying traffic signals or signs, with 62% confessing against the survey average of 39%.
Even more frightening is that South Africa’s young drivers topped the list of those who admit to drinking and driving, with 45% saying they consume alcohol before getting behind the wheel, far ahead of the next worst country, Spain with 31%. Interestingly, the UK figure was just 4%, which clearly reflects a much stricter level of law enforcement, education and self-preservation.
Other figures show that 42% of young South African drivers admit to not using indicators, 83% say they speed up as the robot turns orange, and 24% confess to going through red lights.
Sadly, for many the results will not come as a surprise. The level of disobedience when it comes to traffic laws, and ignorance of road safety, is reflected quite clearly in the statistics. On the African continent 26.8% of those killed on the roads are aged between 15 and 25 years and are the second highest fatality group.
Interestingly the study found that 47% of those who had finished their education at 18 or younger will disobey traffic signals. That reduced to 36% among those taking higher education. Gathered here today, we have one of the most challenging task at hands, that of educating our youth and every road user in general about the importance of road safety.
This festive season we will enforce without mercy our road safety measures including impounding all unroadworthy vehicles found on our roads, and arresting those drivers found to be driving under the influence of alcohol. We want to send a strong message that the days of talking and no action are over. We have lost enough blood on our roads and this has to stop.
Our promise to the people of Limpopo is that we want to have the safest roads ever and this is the declaration that we want to see achieved. Our traffic officers will be visible all over the province to ensure free and smooth flow of traffic until the festive season is over and beyond, adopting a zero tolerance and no nonsense approach to traffic law enforcement. No unroadworthy vehicle will be allowed to continue with the journey – for the safety of our people cannot be compromised.
A significant drop in fatalities during Easter this year brings much needed hope heading into the festive season. During the 2012 festive season 71 people lost their lives while in 2011- 75 people perished.
This represented a small reduction in fatalities. While the reduction was small, it was however welcomed, as one life saved – is one life too many and a pleasant achievement for the province. We hope to drastically reduce road carnage this year and given the commitment and assurance that we got from our officers, we are hopeful that we can achieve more.
Operation Thibela Kotsi
This Festive Season, we will embark on a journey that will redefine traffic law enforcement and increase safety on our roads. We wish to send out a very clear message – we will not tolerate irresponsible behaviour on our roads. We will show the true value of what we are made of in realizing our goal of eliminating the carnage on our roads. We have initiated yet another targeted campaign under the battle cry “Operation Thibela Kotsi” (OTK) as our rallying theme to ensure that this festive season becomes the safest ever. This campaign is based on an old adage “prevention is better than cure” – “thibela malwetji e phala kalafo”.
With this campaign, we encourage road users to do their best in avoiding road crashes than to live with the horrors of the after-crash. We call upon everybody to help us prevent the echoing sounds of a cry of an orphan child who lost a mother and/or father, the cry of a devastated parent who lost a son or daughter, the heart wrenching cry of a widow or widower and the harrowing cry of a family member, a friend, a brother, a sister, a neighbour and a colleague as a result of road fatalities.
The implementation of the OTK is a welcome development which marks yet another milestone in our fight against lawlessness on our roads. Through the OTK we will be working tirelessly and surely like a lion stalking its prey, pouncing like an eagle taking to the carcass and sweeping like a typhoon ripping through the dense forest.
We will indeed fight with the strength of a bull and the agility of a tiger. This is a sumptuous meal that will be served to each and every road user in the province, especially those who violate the rules. Re tla be re elwa ya mahloa mahwibidu (we will be fighting like lions possessed). Disobey the rules of the road at your own peril and be the first one to have a taste of it.
Through Operation Thibela Kotsi we will have all our traffic officers out in full force manning our roads and every entry and exit point into and out of our province including major roads such as the N1, R71, R101, Blouberg road, Gilead road, R81 and R37 amongst others. We will be visible all over the ports of entry, freeways, byways and streets showing no mercy to those who disregard road rules. We implore upon road users to operate within the parameters of the law.
Working together in partnership
We will further enforce driver compliance using 22 vehicles fitted with technologically advanced equipment to apprehend long standing traffic offenders. Operations Futha, Bumper to Bumper and Hamba Kahle will be enforced during December, January and beyond to enforce public transport operations compliance, alcohol testing as well as driver and vehicle fitness.
We are grateful towards our stakeholder’s participation and institutional cooperation. We wish to thank and appreciate the support from the following:
- Local Municipalities through their traffic law enforcement personnel and road safety officers
- SAPS road patrols
- Department of Health’s Emergency Medical Services
- Road Accident Fund
- Road Traffic Management Corporation
- Cross Border Road Transport Agency
- Sapa Yopa
We are pleased to announce our partnership with the biking sector and our association with a popular brand Sapa Yopa. These are our ambassadors for Road Safety and our soldiers of peace for unity and social cohesion.
We are happy to work with them during this important weekend as they celebrate their fifth anniversary by hosting thousands of other bikers from various provinces and countries in the Region. We call upon them to promote road safety within the biking fraternity and save lives particularly among the youngsters.
Our request to road users
Our clarion call to every road user in the province is to observe the following key messages which, when properly followed will help a great deal in curbing and reducing fatalities:
- Motorists should not drink and drive
- Pedestrians should not drink and walk
- Do not text and drive
- Always remember that fatigue is a silent killer. Motorists should ensure that they rest after every 200km or two hours
- Buckle up and reduce the chance of injury by 65%
- Pedestrians should ensure their visibility by wearing bright clothes
- Overtake when it is safe to do so
- Motorists should adhere to the speed limit and always remember that speed kills.
We extend our invitation to the fourth estate, as the media is affectionately known, to join us in spreading this road safety campaign for the safety of our people. As the department we will be constantly informing the media about our specific and targeted law enforcement plans and road safety activities.
We will be releasing data regularly that will highlight arrests and vehicle impoundments as a warning and deterrence to irresponsible road users and vehicle owners. Let us work together to bring an end to road carnages for the socio-economic development of our province.
Road safety starts with you and I, obey the rules of the road and save lives. Thibela Kotsi. We wish you all a joyous Festive Season, Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Thank you very much and let us all arrive alive!
