standing in for MEC Themabalekaya Madikane at the Provincial Driver of the Year
competition, Kuruman
8 September 2007
Honourable Executive District Mayor, Sarah Mereeotlhe,
Mayors of the Gasegonyane and Moshaweng Municipalities,
Honourable councillors present,
Head of Safety and Liaison Department, Liz Botes,
Senior government officials both local and provincial,
Distinguished guests,
Most importantly, our participants the drivers who made this day possible
Ladies and gentlemen
Programme Director
It is a great honour and privilege to address you at this important annual
event which is in its fifth year, where we celebrate the efforts of our
professional drivers and above all, where drivers reap the fruits of their
efforts through recognitions such as this one. We celebrate the important role
played by both truck and bus drivers to the economy of the province and country
which cannot pass unnoticed.
Our communities expects of you to deliver goods of high value and quality
and through your dedication, which you do so with distinction, efficiency and
in a reliably fashion. The fact that safety is your priority puts you far ahead
of the rest of us and this proves your commitment and dedication towards a
better and safe environment.
We are gathered here this evening to honour and congratulate our drivers who
competed for the first position of the 'Provincial Driver of the Year 2007' in
one of the most beautiful and fast growing region, Kgalagadi under the capable
leadership of honourable Mayor Sarah Mereeotlhe and her Mayoral team and
councillors.
This region successfully managed to host two 'Driver of the Year'
competitions this year, namely its Regional Competition and now the Provincial
Driver of the Year.
We are also here tonight to bestow honour on our women drivers who competed
for the first time in the 'Provincial Female Driver of the Year' competition an
initiative of the Department of Safety and Liaison. This is not to discriminate
and advantage women in any way but it is to afford women an opportunity to
compete among themselves and share experiences as women drivers.
For the first time we managed to have eight (8) women participating in the
competition as compared to three in the past. This is an improvement but it is
not enough. In any event, these competent women also competed against men and
we wish to extend our sincere congratulations and excitement to you for
choosing to bus and truck driving as your professions.
We are proud of you, as you competed against men during the competition and
showed them that what you are able to do what they can do and in some instances
you even do it better and smarter.
Malibongwe, igama lamakhosikazi! Wa thintha abafasi wathintha embokoto!
We salute all the participants, who without doubt and fear put themselves
forward to prove their technical skills commitment to safe driving. For you to
be able to reach this stage to compete at the provincial level and represent
your various regions say a lot about you, your knowledge, skills and attitude
towards other road users.
I know how tough the competition was, with all the tests you were subjected
to in the competition, both practical and theoretical.
If our public servants can adopt this combination and learn from you, when
they drive police vehicles, ambulances, emergency services vehicles and
government vehicles, we will have a safe road environment that will appeal to
all road users.
As you know the competition is aimed at enhancing and improving driving
skills of heavy motor vehicle drivers while preventing and reducing the number
of accidents involving heavy motor vehicles in our country and provinces. We
are convinced that this will only be achieved through the cooperation and
skills of the heavy motor drivers both in our country as well as our
province.
DOTY, as the competition is commonly known, serves as an incentive for the
business sector and organisations to invest in the advanced training of heavy
vehicle drivers. This competition goes as far as presenting a sound business
case of excellent return on investment as skilled drivers not only contribute
to the saving of human life but also to saving vehicle maintenance and fleet
management costs.
Programme Director,
Allow us to also applaud these skilled drivers for playing a much important
role in the promotion of our economy by ensuring that passengers and goods
reach their destinations safely. This the drivers do through controlling heavy,
powerful and technically complicated machinery. This also requires a strong
awareness of the dangers that both vehicle and the load they are carrying can
pose to other drivers and pedestrians.
The drivers need to be fit, sharp and wide-awake, so that they ca fully
aware at all times of the smaller vehicles we drive, the pedestrians and the
stray animals may.
It means being alert and considerate to other users and being aware of the
road conditions and potential road hazards on their way.
Today's winners will represent our beautiful province at the 'National
Driver of the Year' competition which will be held in the Free State in
Bloemfontein in October 2007. Last year when we hosted the National Competition
we produced the best driver in the country in the name of Van Rienie who
outshined all the drivers in the competition last year.
Once more we extend our congratulations to your for making us proud and
representing our province so well. Executive Mayor Mereeotlhe, Madito who hails
from here in Kuruman also won the second position in the bus category in the
National Competition last year.
We wish all our representatives in the National Competition well and good
luck in bringing the prices home. The first price in the National Competition
is R15 000, second price R10 000 and third price is R5 000 and the over-all
winner is R25 000.
One of the developments in the competition is that next year, we shall be
introducing a new category, the 'Youth Driver of the Year' competition which
will be targeting youth between the ages of 18 and 23 years. This will assist
in inculcating the culture of responsible driving among our youth and encourage
them to enter the driving profession.
When our youth are trained they can join the bus industry and this will
really gives us a reason to use and encourage our friends and families to fully
utilise public transport, especially the buses. This will assist in alleviating
poverty and creating the needed jobs while easing congestion on our roads and
road users can also use non-motorised transport, which is not only the means of
transport, but also a means to ensuring fitness amongst road users.
Programme Director,
In conclusion to Competition Task Team, under the leadership of the Director
Traffic Management Director Jason thank you very much for organising the both
the regional and provincial competitions and ensuring that this day is
realised. A job well done, we are proud of you and continue the sprit of team
safety and ensure that the lives of our people change for the better.
We also wish to extend a word of thanks and my profound appreciation to the
Provincial Safety and Liaison MEC Madikane and Head of Department, Liz Botes
their leadership. Without your intervention and advice we would not have been
sitting here tonight, thank you very much for your contribution especially for
introducing the 'Female Driver of the Year' competition.
We would also like to thank all our sponsors, from the companies that played
a crucial role since the start of the competition at company level, regional
and provincial up to where we are tonight. A word of thanks is also extended to
the employers of the truck and bus companies that allowed their drivers to be
with us throughout the competition.
Lastly but most importantly to the Executive Mayor of Kgalagadi, Sarah
Mereeotlhe and our honoured guests thank you very much for gracing this event
with your presence to witness who will be representing our province at the
National Competition next month. Let's continue to be players in the game of
road safety and recruit all spectators to be contributors as road safety is
everyone's business.
Remember speed kills, arrive alive.
I thank you
Issued by: Northern Cape Provincial Government
8 September 2007
