National day of prayer

Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has called on all South Africans to observe Friday, 18 November as National Day of Prayer for Road Safety.

The National Road Safety Prayer Day will be held at Boekenhoutkloof Traffic Training College in Tshwane, Gauteng and forms part of commemorations for World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on 20 November, to mourn the nearly 1.3 million people who lost their lives and the millions of others who were injured on the world’s roads this year.

The 2011 theme is “From Global Remembrance to Global Action across the Decade” Let’s make 2011-2020 a Decade to remember!

Minister Ndebele is firm on the role of all South Africans in the fight against road carnage: “Road safety is a key priority of the South African government. However, road safety is not only government’s responsibility; road safety is everybody's responsibility. During this Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, every citizen must become part of the global movement to create a safer road environment for all our people,” Minister Ndebele noted, in announcing the National Road Safety Prayer Day.

“We are calling upon all South Africans to join us in observing National Road Safety Prayer Day and World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Friday (18 November), to pray for safety on the roads during the forthcoming festive season”.

As we enter the Festive Season

According to Western Cape transport officials, at least 20 people have been reported killed in a road crash around 2am this morning (15 November) on the N1 between Leeu-Gamka and Prince Albert road, when two mini-bus taxis heading towards Cape Town hit into a truck.

Minister Ndebele has conveyed condolences to the families of those killed. “We want to convey condolences to the families of those killed in yet another horrific road crash in the Western Cape this morning (15 November), and wish those injured a speedy recovery. Officials from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) are providing assistance to the affected families. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has dispatched an independent team of accident investigation and reconstruction specialists to assist in the investigation of this crash.”

“We are repeating our calls for all public transport operators to ensure that no long-distance trip is undertaken without a relief driver, particularly as we head towards the December holidays. No mercy will be shown to any road user who disobeys rules of the road.”

A Global Partnership in the Fight against Road Carnage

Minister Ndebele noted that we are all affected: “The greatest partners in this struggle against road carnage must be those who have lost relatives and friends in road crashes. The second group of partners in this fight must be the very young, who are yet to acquire bad driving habits, to whom wearing a seatbelt, not drinking and driving can still be acquired as a force of habit. The third set of partners must be the religious sector who shoulders the burden of burying the dead every day of the year somewhere around the world. It is the living who close the eyes of the dead, but it is the dead who must open the eyes of the living,” said Minister Ndebele.

On 8 November, Minister Ndebele together with IMPERIAL Holdings, road safety experts and other stakeholders launched the I-Pledge road safety campaign. On 10 October, various private sector companies joined hands with the Department of Transport as a Friend of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

Chilling Statistics: And the Success of the National Rolling Enforcement Plan

Over the past year, more than 21,000 drunk drivers were arrested and more than 60,000 un-roadworthy vehicles removed from the country’s roads as part of the new National Rolling Enforcement Plan (NREP) announced by Minister Ndebele on 10 September 2010.

From October 2010 to October 2011,15,051,565 vehicles and drivers were checked, 6,287,308 fines issued for various traffic offences, 21,575 drunk drivers arrested and 60,313 un-roadworthy vehicles (the majority of which are buses and taxis) discontinued from use.

Last month alone (October Transport Month), 1,034,375 vehicles and drivers were stopped and checked, 308,327 fines issued for various traffic offences, 6,972 vehicles discontinued from use and 8,263 drivers arrested including drinking and driving (1,795), reckless and/or negligent driving (131), excessive speed (151), warrants of arrest (5,506), public transport permits (210) and other arrests (470).

Over the past two months (September and October 2011), more than 2,600 public transport drivers have been arrested as part of pre-December holiday traffic law enforcement operations and following Minister Ndebele's instruction that every bus and taxi must be stopped and checked.

From 31 August to October 2011, 623,469 public transport vehicles were stopped and checked; 3,190 mini-buses, 1,868 buses and 2,682 trucks discontinued from use for being in an un-roadworthy condition; 93,945 fines issued for various public transport offences; more than 2,653 public transport drivers arrested including 371 for drunk driving, 1,947 for overloading, 91 for excessive speed, 28 for reckless and/or negligent driving and 154 in connection with public transport permits.