Having been launched in September 2010 by Minister Sbusiso Ndebele, the Eastern Cape Department of Transport’s Road Safety Councils will be officially inaugurated on Friday, 11 February 2011, by Transport MEC Thandiswa Marawu.
The event which will be attended by stakeholders such as Transnet, Road Accident Fund (RAF), South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), South Africa Local Government Association (Salga) and the service provider Translog who will train the elected councils through-out the province, will also see the nominations of the provincial structure.
Road safety has long been emphasised as one of the key priorities by Minister Sibusiso Ndebele and it was during the launch of the Arrive Alive Festive Season Campaign in December 2009, that he made a commitment that the Department of Transport will initiate the establishment of Provincial Road Safety Councils. This came as a result of the continued carnage experienced year on year on South African roads and the minister’s zeal for safer roads in the country is encapsulated in the phrase of “one death is one too many”.
The establishment of these road safety councils is seen as the first step to providing safer roads in South Africa and will be essential to kick starting the road safety programmme by acting as an implementation structure at local, district and provincial levels. They shall be a community representative committee who will be an advisory body to the MEC for transport on road safety issues that affect communities and to assist law enforcement in ensuring compliance with the rules of the road.
Aims and objectives of the community road safety council shall be to:
- To act as the implementation structure of road safety programmes at local, district and provincial level
- Facilitate community involvement in the development of community projects
- Serve as an advisory body of government on road safety issues that affects communities
- Assist law enforcement in ensuring compliance with the rules of the road
- The committee is to oversee the consultative and democratic process of the establishment of Local Road Safety Councils
- Assist the Department of Transport in the institutional arrangements of Community Safety Councils, in terms of their constitution, mandates and sustainability.
- Monitor the process and report at provincial level.
