Introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to express my gratitude for your contributions to the success of this summit. The presentations made were relevant and in fact laid the foundation for areas of intervention which are much needed if we are to defeat road deaths, carnages and transgressions. Looking at the contributions made by the respective commissions, I am certain we were correct in hosting this summit to deliberate on this important matter.
This summit would recall that our intended outcomes with regards to this summit were shared with you yesterday. The main objective of the summit was to identify the causes of road accidents as well as the identity of the transgressors so as to find solutions in addressing them. Our approach in doing so was through collective wisdom of this summit, particularly so since our view is that road safety is a shared responsibility by all of us.
As we rise today, we wanted to emerge with resolutions that would serve as building blocks for a shared Provincial Road Safety Strategy. We wanted to emerge with partnerships that will benefit our endeavours to fight this scourge. We advanced the view that the issue of roles that individuals and or respective bodies need to play was therefore central to the realisation of our intended outcomes.
Views advanced
The presentations in the morning on their own are both revealing as well as instructive. They give pointers of areas that we need to zoom into for our interventions. These are:
- Partnerships are key in fighting this scourge. To this end, the summit is instructing us to form a “Partnership Against Road Accidents” (PARA).
- The summit is also instructing us to anchor our road safety interventions under the slogan, ‘Accidents do not happen, they are caused’.
- We are further instructed to recruit Volunteers as road safety ambassadors, with the youth as lead champions.
- The summit observes that our laws and their enforcement is very lenient and causes road murderers to get away with murder. The summit therefore instructs us to be decisive with traffic law breakers and be brutal in the enforcement of the law on traffic offences.
Linked to the above, the summit instructs us to negotiate with government for dedicated traffic courts.
The department is instructed by the summit to design roads and bridges with people safety in mind and do not leave this as an afterthought. This includes road signage, road markings, fencing and speed control measures such as humps.
The summit instructs that road safety education and campaigns must be intensified and be community based and centred.
The summit observes the lack of synergy in the implementation of road safety programmes amongst the various tiers of government and that there should be better coordination of activities between these various tiers. To this end, it is suggested that a partnership of Road Authorities for Road Safety be created.
The department is instructed to investigate the immediate implementation of an integrated traffic law enforcement committee/ unit.
The recognition, training and beefing up of traffic personnel must be investigated.
The department is instructed to develop an anti-corruption strategy within the transportation industry.
There is a fundamental need to regulate and standardise the transportation industry, in particular the learner driving industry.
The department is instructed to come up with a vigorous pedestrian strategy.
Conclusion
Delegates, as we close this summit today, I am assured that the decision to host this summit was a correct one. The resolutions taken at this summit will serve as building blocks for our road safety strategy. We do have in place the committee responsible for putting together this summit, under the chairpersonship of Advocate Chamane.
It is imperative that its task is not complete yet without the finalisation of all the resolutions taken at this gathering and putting them into a programme of action for this province. The resolutions will be shared with all participants and relevant stakeholders and will serve as a basis for a shared Provincial Road Safety Strategy. We commit to the implementation of these resolutions in the interest of the safety of road users and the people of this province. The team that we have put in place is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation thereof.
Allow me to thank each and every one of you for your invaluable contributions. This is not the end but the beginning of a journey to be the number one province in fighting and winning the war against carnages and transgressions on our roads. As individuals and as a collective let us be activists of road safety, wherever we are. As we end this summit today, all of us present here declare that “the Partnership Against Road Accidents” has today been officially launched. On this note, the summit is now closed.
I thank you!!!
