Memorial Lecture Dinner, Eighth World Conference on Injury Prevention and
Safety Promotion
3 April 2006
Thank you for the opportunity to make a few remarks this evening. I am
unfortunately unable to attend any of the sessions of the World Conference on
Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, but wish to state clearly my own and
Government's total support and interest in the deliberations and outcomes of
your discussions. At the same time, I wish to limit my remarks to a few minutes
as the occasion of this august dinner is the Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture
presented by the Chief Justice of South Africa, Justice Pius Langa.
It is a sad fact, that transport related injuries represent a serious threat
to public health. If it were not the case, the need for a conference such as
your own would need redefinition. All of our efforts at definition, measurement
and analysis of risk factors for road traffic injuries cannot, however, console
a weeping child or parent as they learn of the untimely road death of a loved
one. In heartbreaking moments such as these, our actions are limited to
gestures of condolence and comfort. The analytic data presented over the last
three days suggests that this need not be the case. Research has shown that a
spectrum of primary road traffic injury prevention actions is indeed possible.
Policy planners and government administrations must surely now act to implement
the most appropriate of these for their own situations.
The problems of securing safer transport have been compounded by the rapid
urbanisation that is taking place in our major urban centres. Greater
concentrations of people, congestion and convergence of busy traffic routes,
increased motor vehicle ownership patterns, increasing numbers of drivers and
road users, all contribute to the challenge we face. In fact, data from the
National Injury Mortality Surveillance System shows that in 2004, for the first
time, there were more deaths from transport related activities than from
violent acts in South Africa's four largest cities: Johannesburg, Durban, Cape
Town and Tshwane. This is a startling situation that requires sober assessment
and action.
Everyone has the right to safe and efficient transport. Pedestrians should
not be relegated to second-class citizens in the face of motorised transport
and children should not be expected to protect themselves from speeding traffic
as they have no choice but to cross busy motorways en route to school. We need
to encourage investment in public transport systems that are environmentally
and people friendly that accommodate pedestrians and users of other
non-motorised forms of transport, so that our emphasis is not the private
car-owner. But at the same time we must all surely insist on the development of
a culture of responsibility on the part of road-users themselves to be more
careful, more respectful of others, and ultimately be law-abiding citizens and
obey even the most mundane traffic regulations.
Securing safety as a right means mobilising all available resources and
harnessing the expertise of all sectors and disciplines to protect the health
and lives of all spaces, public and private, homes and roads, rich and poor.
Calls for equity in the transport sector may sound foreign to many but the
democratisation of our transport systems and networks is imperative to
attaining full freedom for people worldwide.
Integrating democracy, equity and transport safety must guide planning and
development, particularly low-middle-income countries (LMICs) in which the bulk
of the global road traffic injuries occur. The road to safety however can only
be built through coordinated regional, national and international co-operation
that crosses sectors and disciplines. These imperatives underwrote the South
African Road to Safety vision developed and implemented by my predecessor, the
late Dullah Omar who believed that the right to safety should be the focus of
any government.
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the many legacies that Dullah Omar bequeathed
to our country was an unswerving devotion to a people-centred vision of rights
and responsibilities, enunciated through partnership and co-operation. Always a
realist, he acknowledged the need for firm and fair prosecution of offences,
but never believed that laws and regulations should replace the active
commitment and hard work of citizens to make life and living better for all. A
monument stands at the water's edge overlooking part of the old fishing harbour
at Cape Town's Waterfront complex. It commemorates the deaths at sea of
fishermen from a particular tragedy, but out of that tragedy Dullah Omar
spearheaded an initiative that led to the South African Maritime Safety
Authority introducing measures to improve safety training for fishermen and of
the responsibilities of owners of vessels. It is a tribute to Cde Dullah that
his vision was wide-ranging and crossed all borders, and it is a vision that we
all cherish.
I thank you again for this opportunity to pay a short tribute to Dullah
Omar.
Issued by: Department of Transport
3 April 2006
Source: Department of Transport (http://www.transport.gov.za)
