With schools closing today (30 September) for spring holidays, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has once again called on road users to obey road rules.
“The past two months (August and September) have been horrific in terms of road deaths across the country, and we cannot allow this to continue. Law enforcement operations have been stepped up, and we call upon all road users to obey all road rules. With schools closing today (30 September), we urge motorists to ensure vehicle and driver fitness at all times.
As government, we will continue to go all out to ensure safe roads through implementation of a comprehensive road safety strategy focusing on education, enforcement and engineering in line with the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 to 2020. We will win the war against road deaths, but each and every one of us must put more effort into it,” said the Minister.
Over the past three weeks, at least 1,500 un-roadworthy buses and taxis have been taken off South Africa's roads, following Minister Ndebele’s instruction on 31 August that every bus and taxi must be stopped and checked.
From 31 August to 25 September 2011, 194,962 public transport vehicles were stopped and checked; 783 mini-buses, 501 buses, 210 scholar transport vehicles and 253 trucks discontinued from use; 39,934 fines issued for various public transport offences; more than 825 public transport drivers arrested including 168 for drunk driving, 552 for overloading, 55 for excessive speed, 17 for reckless and/or negligent driving and 88 in connection with public transport permits.
On Monday (26 September), the Mpumalanga safety department reported that four traffic officers, who were charged with corruption, bribery and failing to comply with the Criminal Procedure Act, were fired. In July, three of the officers were caught in Malelane after they helped a motorist transport illegal goods into the country in exchange for money. The fourth officer was caught taking a bribe from a taxi driver in Barberton.
In the Western Cape, transport officials have reported that almost 50 drivers have been sentenced to jail for drunk driving in the past year. Since 1 October 2010, 664 drivers have been sentenced in the province for drunk-driving offences, 47 of whom were sent directly to jail without the option of paying fines or serving another type of sentence. One was jailed for four years, six for three years and the remaining 40 for between six months and two-and-a-half years. A further 12 had their licences cancelled.
As part of the new National Rolling Enforcement Plan (NREP) announced by Minister Ndebele on 10 September 2010, from October 2010 to August 2011, 12,984,120 vehicles and drivers were checked, 5,540,275 fines issued for various traffic offences, 18,527 drunk drivers arrested and 50,272 un-roadworthy vehicles (the majority of which are buses and taxis) discontinued from use.
Meanwhile, Minister Ndebele will host Transport Ministers from member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from 5 to 7 October in Pretoria. The SADC Decade of Action for Road Safety will be officially launched on 7 October in Pretoria. SADC supports the United Nations (UN) call for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 to 2020, through harmonisation of road safety initiatives in the region.
The SADC meeting follows Minister Ndebele’s attendance of the XXIV World Road Congress in Mexico City from 26 to 30 September, where ideas and experiences of various countries in the framework of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety were also discussed.
Further, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), in collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Department of Basic Education, Transnet, BP South Africa and the Road Accident fund will host the National Road Safety Debates Competition, aimed at secondary school learners, on 5 October from 10h00 at the Coastlands Hotel & Conference Centre, eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal.
Enquiries:
Ashref Ismail
RTMC
Cell: 071 680 3448
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 6444 050
