Qualification by Mr Jeff Radebe, MP, Minister of Transport, at Umdloti
Weighbridge
16 October 2006
MEC Bheki Cele,
EThekwini Mayor Obed Mlaba,
South African National Roads Agency Ltd (SANRAL) CEO Nazir Alli,
Director-General Mpumi Mpofu,
Government officials,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:
For millions of people the journey start when ferried between homes, places
of work and learning institutions but the journey can also end during that
transportation process. It has done so for many people who lost their lives on
our road network. South Africa's economic growth comes with many challenges.
These include expansion of road networks, increased accidents on our roads and
a huge growth in vehicle population. During 2005 alone 670 000 vehicles were
sold which is a 25,7 percent increase from 2004 car sales of over 500 000
units. Road safety has become one of our major priorities given the fact that
every year South Africa loses more than 13 000 innocent lives to road
accidents. Road accidents also translate to an annual R43 billion costs to the
economy.
Our road safety strategies and intelligent transport systems are beginning
to tackle the core of this human and capital loss. I am pleased to announce
that Cabinet has officially approved our road safety strategy last week.
The strategy consists of a number of comprehensive but drastic measures such
as intensified law enforcement on public transport, pedestrians and cyclists
and extra traffic law enforcement personnel will be employed to improve police
visibility. Most importantly the point's merit and demerit system will be
introduced as a mechanism to deal with lawlessness on our roads. We are also
beginning to manage more efficiently our traffic along specific corridors.
Three weeks ago we officially launched the Intelligent Transport System (ITS)
on Africa's busiest Ben Schoeman motorway as part of the campaign to enhance
our management of traffic congestion and road conditions.
The event today signifies another crucial milestone in reducing the loss of
life on our roads. The ever-increasing traffic volumes, high accident rates,
congestion and the negative impact of incidents on the road system have
necessitated the development and implementation of IMS to compliment the ITS.
The IMS could not have come at a better time to ensure the rapid detection of
incidents, quick verification of the extent and type of incident followed by
the rapid and effective deployment of the appropriate resources. The system
will enable quicker response by authorities and emergency services and the
turn-around time for appropriate assistance for accident victims will be
reduced.
The main goal of an IMS is to establish a comprehensive and co-ordinated
response and management of any road incident, thereby ensuring safe and rapid
clearance of the scene minimising the secondary effects of the incident.
The system will facilitate real-time incident co-ordination between all
parties concerned including emergency services, fire brigade, traffic
authorities, South African Police Service (SAPS) and towing services and it
will also prevent duplication of call-outs. The system will receive information
from the ITS and circulate it to traffic authorities, SAPS and emergency
services. This standardised approach will ensure a consistent approach to
decision-making, incident prioritisation and most importantly will save lives
of accident victims.
The IMS will, however, not work without proper skills and training of those
who will be responsible for its operation. I am therefore delighted to announce
that we have invested R1.2 million for the development of the IMS tertiary
curriculum programme. The programme will be available at 100 institutions
across the country. This would have not been possible without the efforts of my
Department, SANRAL and the Transport Sector Education and Training Authority
(TETA) who developed an incident management qualification in a form of a
national certificate in line with South African Qualification Authority (SAQA)
standards. The programme will target individuals already employed within one of
the disciplines responsible for management of incidents such as traffic
authorities and emergency services, etc. This will ensure the development of
skills and efficiency particularly on areas relating to:
* incident detection
* responders mobilisation
* situation analysis
* scene management
* scene clearance, rehabilitation and follow-up.
Upon completion, learners will be exposed to practical realities that will
allow them to respond to incidents and accident scenes efficiently.
The implementation of this qualification will be monitored and evaluated
over a specific period of time. The evaluation will be performed by an
independent body consisting of my Department, SANRAL, TETA and an independent
body of experts specifically focussing on the following:
* the country's socio-economic growth
* road network management
* effectiveness of IMS
* state of readiness of emergency services to deal with accidents.
I am confident that the training of incident responders will undoubtedly
contribute to the advancement and development of our national agenda in respect
of road safety.
In those few words I am honoured to officially launch the IMS Qualification
and would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have made this
system possible. I also hope that the tertiary institutions will play their
meaningful role in improving safety on our road network and save lives of our
people.
Viva IMS viva!
Ngiyabonga!
Issued by: Department of Transport
16 October 2006
Source: Department of Transport (http://www.transport.gov.za/)
