Eastern Cape on suspension of unroadworthy vehicles

28 January 2009

Last night, the Provincial Traffic Task Team and the Buffalo City
Municipality officers suspended 141 out of 190 tested vehicles during a joint
operation focusing on unroadworthy vehicles in East London and King Williams
Town.
The suspended vehicles included 25 buses, 17 minibuses and 109 other motor
vehicles.

These suspended buses are from various companies including national and
locally renowned companies. A total of 32 government vehicles were also
confiscated from various departments. This operation follows the instruction of
the MEC for Roads and Transport, Gloria Barry, earlier this week that the 100
members of Provincial Traffic Task Team should continue with its work,
following its successful Arrive Alive Campaign during the 2008/09 festive
season, which reduced road accidents in the Eastern Cape by 30 percent.

They worked 24 hours a day with a primary focus on:
* drunken driving (priority number one)
* reckless or negligent driving
* moving violations (barrier lines, blind rise overtaking) etc
* major route selective enforcement
* passenger overload
* misuse of government vehicles (GG)
* safety belts (front and rear)
* all other relevant offences
* illegal number plates
* use of cell phones
* stray animals.

This resulted into the following achievements:
* a total of 15 293 drivers were caught for various traffic law offences
* 711 people were arrested for drunken driving
* 822 stray animals were taken off the road
* 579 stray animals were confiscated on N2, N6, R61 and R63
* summonses to a value of R1.5million were issued for various traffic law
offences
* 8911 people were reached through stray animal education programmes
* 200 red flags were distributed to shepherds.

They were assisted by 17 officials from the Road Safety Unit and 95
community members who are participating in the department’s Sakha Isizwe Road
Rangers Programme, which involves patrolling roads on horseback looking after
the road fence and stray animals in districts such as Alfred Nzo (11), Amathole
(14), Chris Hani (43), Ukhahlamba eight, OR Tambo (19).

MEC Barry further committed to continuously increase the number of traffic
officers through the department’s learnership programme. “As we speak, 50 young
people are undergoing training to become traffic officers at the Port Elizabeth
Traffic College. They will be followed by another group of 50 students in July
2009 and the last group of 60 students is expected to commence training in
January 2010. New recruits’ involvement in this Task Team will help them to
gain experience,” said MEC Barry.

For more information contact:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Cell: 082 4422 388

Issued by: Department of Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial
Government
28 January 2009