Thank you Programme Director
Head of Department for Roads and Transport
Councillors present
Debaters from all the districts of our province and their educators
Representatives from Road Safety Councils
Representatives from the Provincial Driving School Owners Association
Representatives of the Operating Licences Board
Representatives of the Provincial Taxi Council
Officials from the Department of Education
Officials from the Department of Roads and Transport
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you for honouring us with your presence at this event. It fills me with a great sense of appreciation and pleasure to be with you this evening as we entrench our road safety message. This is not just an event but a process that seeks to rid our roads of fatalities and accidents which destroy life even before life starts.
This occasion takes place during the month of August which on the 12th was the International Youth Day. Today we have learners, who are youths in their own right, as agent for change and leaders in our drive for safer roads. We wish all the youths in our province a happy belated International Youth Day.
Programme Director
Annually, more than 14 000 South Africans die on the roads. Most of these deaths and injuries are preventable. To increase road safety awareness by young people, we as the department in conjunction with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and Department of Basic Education host the National Road Safety Debate Competition on an annual basis, targeting high school learners.
The purpose of this debate is two-fold; to firstly educate a smaller group of learners, and secondly to empower larger groups of learners and communities via these peer educators who will impart the necessary road safety information that will save lives and avert injuries through:
- Sanctioning learners with practical research skills and enhancing their presentation skills.
- Promoting team work by means of participatory education techniques.
We take pride as the department of roads and transport to be in partnership with RTMC, with regards to confronting road crashes in unison, and using the debates as a weapon against the war to save lives on our roads. We have no doubt that this endeavour will bear positive results. We have never failed in the past and we reiterate that we shall not fail going forward.
Programme Director
According to the United Nations Children’s Education Fund, road crashes are the second cause of fatalities in the under 18 age group. We meet here because we value road safety education and awareness programmes aimed at our youths at all levels of schooling as a priority, such as increasing the visibility of learners through reflective backpacks and belts.
The World Report on Child Injury Prevention, published by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, highlighted the enormous challenge of curbing child road deaths. It states that “with 260 000 children (up to the age of 18) killed on the world’s roads every year, and another estimated 10 million injured, road crashes are the leading cause of child injury.
According to this report, the greatest need for immediate and drastic action exists in low- and middle-income countries, which include South Africa. These countries are responsible for more than 93% of child road deaths and injuries in the world.
We have as a department adopted the Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign to mitigate the effect of road crashes. Since its launch as the flagship campaign for promotion and enforcement of road safety and road user responsibility, we can confirm that road safety awareness has improved greatly. We have expanded the focus of Arrive Alive beyond traffic enforcement and traffic safety education to include adequacy of road signage.
The most important shift we are making is from seasonal period only approach to a planned and coordinated year round enforcement. I can assure you we are getting to grips with the underlying causes of crashes and fatalities on our roads. We are looking at structures and systems that have a bearing on road traffic quality and safety management. Be that as it may, challenges still remain especially with drunken driving the main area of concern.
Programme Director
In July 2009, Tanzania hosted the “Africa Decade of Action for Road Safety” Conference. This platform provided Africa an opportunity to debate road injury prevention issues, before the first ever global United Nations Ministerial Conference on Road Safety.
The gathering in Tanzania enabled all participants to review progress on improving road safety in Africa. Lessons were derived from this conference and have been implemented in our country when the national Minister of Transport launched the South African leg of the “Decade of Action for Road Safety” in 2011.
In response the United Nations General Assembly said that traffic deaths and injuries undermined the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty and creating jobs by 2015. The UN also said the issue could only be resolved through an international approach. Meeting here today we hope that the winning team will address this clarion call and put our province on the map.
Programme Director
Road safety is everyone’s responsibility, and as government we cannot claim the sole ownership thereof. The education of parents and teachers, according to the Road Safety Foundation, is also essential because too many children are transported without the use of a child restraint or seatbelt, which is a serious cause for concern.
Children are the country’s most treasured resource and their safety should be equalled to none. As government, parents and teachers we need to position our collective might behind ensuring that road safety principles are constantly practiced by our communities.
A sincere word of appreciation is hereby sent out to our sister department, the Department of Basic Education for partnering with us on this momentous event. We hope that this partnership for good will elevate our roads safety initiative to new heights. No amount of words can describe the feelings we have for the department coming on board. Let us ensure that we take this initiative further for the benefit of all.
We also acknowledge the role played by the private sector in contributing towards road safety education, in particular the Road Safety Foundation, whose mission is “to partner with private and public sector in an effort to reduce road crashes and the resulting injuries and fatalities on South African roads by implementing specific and measurable education and awareness programmes”.
Programme Director
There is strength in unity. We call on every member of society and both the NGO’s and more private sector companies to also come on board our ship and help us as government to steer towards ensuring that road safety principles are implemented constantly by our communities.
There is a Shona adage that says “Chara chime hachitswanyi inda”. The other one states that “Rume rimwe harikombi churu”, loosely translated they mean that one finger cannot crush a lice or individualism has no gain. For this campaign to be sustainable and successful, all interested parties need to raise their hands and help government in ensuring that road safety principles are implemented constantly by our communities.
Programme Director,
In the same way that South Africans were united in their struggle for the eradication of the oppressive regime, let us join hands and continue with the struggle for the eradication of road crashes. Ka Sepedi ba re bobedi bo bolaya noga. Road deaths are preventable deaths. Playing by the rules can assist us greatly in eradicating deaths and injuries on our roads.
With the ferocity of pack of wolves, let us tackle this scourge together. Road deaths are preventable deaths. Playing by the rules can assist us greatly in eradicating deaths and injuries on our roads.
This session must not translate into a mere talk shop, but we must see the results which should be the reduction of road deaths not only amongst your age group, but to all road users as well. We say this to you because we are quite confident that investing in you would allow for the road safety awareness campaigns to take root and spread rapidly in your communities.
As we dispatch to our respective places, let us all spread the message of road safety. To you the learners, we encourage you to educate your peers so that they can empower others with a view to keep them updated with the current road safety education.
I want to heartily congratulate our winners here today. You have certainly displayed the highest levels of academic excellence and your efforts are applauded. I implore you, do not stop reaching for the stars, as education is the key to opening doors to a brighter future.
The team that precedes you made history last year by coming second in the finals in Cape Town. By doing this they put pressure on your little but capable shoulders to go all the way to the finals this year in Port Elizabeth and become second to none. Go there and bring the trophy home. The cabinet in my office is clean and ready to display the coveted trophy.
I thank you.
