Keynote address by Honourable Minister of Transport Mme Dipuo Peters, MP, National Road Safety Strategy CBO Engagement Summit, Gallagher Estate
Programme Director, Mr. Godfrey Selepe,
Honourable MECs in the Transport Family from our various Provinces,
RTMC Chairman and Board Members,
Chairman and Board Members in attendance from our Various Entities,
President of Santaco, Ntate Taaibosch,
Our Chief Executive Officers,
Deputy Directors General from the Transport Branches,
Esteemed Delegations from our Road Safety and Transport Non-Governmental Organisations,
Bishops, Bafundisi and Elders,
Traditional Leaders,
Youth for Road Safety,
Senior Management from the Department,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
In a Constitutional State such as South Africa is, the body politic of a country extends beyond just formal political parties and politicians, to encompass and embrace non-state role players. The role of those who represent interests that are not accommodated in traditional political party framework, is not only recognised, but also desirable and guaranteed.
Countries that do not open space for various forms of participatory democracy risk the collapse of the very national democratic project they profess to undertake, namely; nation building and social cohesion.
This universal truth is borne by the central tenet of Our Vision 2030, encapsulated in the National Development Plan, which plan: "...offers a long-term perspective....defines a desired destination and identifies the role different sectors of society need to play in reaching that goal." In elaborating this perspective, it speaks of;
"...overarching goals...building consensus on the key obstacles....shared long-term strategic framework...and creating a basis for making choices about how best to use limited resources."
Believing that there is strength in numbers, and in giving expression to the notion that government cannot be the sole repository of wisdom, the National Department of Transport has undertaken the task to mobilise views of stakeholders in the transport community, to contribute in the formulation of a road safety strategy for the country.
This principle of public participation holds that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. It precisely that reason that we are today meeting on this auspicious occasion as representatives of different non-governmental organisations, transport stakeholders and government to chart a way forward towards the development of a national road safety strategy for our country.
The strategy will serve as a blueprint for all road safety interventions that we must implement in our communities, in villages, townships and cities to make our roads safer for the coming four years 2016 to 2020.
It is appropriated that we are meeting like this when as a country we observe Human Rights Month. And indeed safety on our roads has become a human rights issue. The scourge of fatalities and injuries rob our people among others of their rights to life, to pursue their freedom of trade occupation and profession as enshrined in our constitution.
We continue to be inspired by the Freedom Charter, which declared that the people shall govern.
As the ANC-led government, we strongly believe in the wisdom of our stakeholders and the masses of our people, whenever we craft policies, strategies and plans as we are doing today.
This summit follows engagement sessions that have been held in various provinces this week to discuss and deliberate on what should constitute our national road safety strategy. We have sought to bring all South Africans as partners in a national response to the monumental challenge facing our country today.
Our motivation is derived from words of Pope Francis who advised that, and I quote “Human right are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities.”
It is an undeniable fact that South Africa, has a serious challenge with regard to road safety.
As a country we reported a road death rate of 23.5 per 100 000 people in 2014 when the global average is 17.4 fatalities per 100 000 people. Middle income countries like ours record an average of 18.4 fatalities per 100 000 people.
The importance of road safety to the economy and society at large provides a convincing case for decisive policies and strategies to address the problem.
People injured or killed on our roads are often breadwinners in their families and important contributors to the economy at large. Therefore it is not an exaggeration to say that road crashes deny our people to a right to pursue economic activities and denies their children the right to education.
An economic and financial analysis of road crashes points to the need to improve road safety in the country. This will enable South Africans to live long productive lives and fiscal resources can be freed to focus on the important business of socio-economic development. In the past, South Africa has experienced reduced road traffic fatalities, with the figures reducing fairly steadily from 15,419 in 2006 to 12,702 as of 2014.
Reductions in road deaths have however not decreased at the rate required for South Africa to realistically meet the international aspirational goals laid out by the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 (UNDA) to achieve 50% reduction by 2020.
As a participant of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 (UNDA), South Africa has endorsed the global undertaking to save up to 5 million lives, and contribute to preventing up to 50 million serious injuries by 2020.
As part of this commitment, we are meeting here today as stakeholders, representatives of our people and road safety activists to develop a new, goals-based Road Safety Strategy that embodies the principles of the "Safe Systems" approach and gives effect to the five pillars of the UNDA.
Best practice countries demonstrate the importance of a clear approach to road safety which details the key problem areas to be addressed by an effective road safety strategy.
This session is also expected to start the mobilisation of stakeholders to improve the country’s road safety record ahead of the Easter weekend. Long weekends and payday weekends are periods in which the country experiences an increase in road deaths.
In March/April 2016, we will have two consecutive long weekends with pay days, which means our law enforcement agencies must be on high alert. We will officially unveil our plan for the Easter Season in Limpopo next Friday the 18th March 2015.
Programme Director,
It is evident that we need to work harder and smarter to:
- Reduce accidents, fatalities and injuries
- Inculcate good road user behaviour
- Encourage voluntary compliance
- Reduce road accident costs
Let us use this opportunity to develop a national strategy that will be appreciated by many future generations. We have an opportunity to make a difference. Let us act together now. Let us take road safety as a social struggle that we must wage to protect the Constitutional “Right to Life” guided by the blueprint that will emerge out of these consultation sessions.
It is my sincere wish that we will engage robustly, honestly and come up with a strategy that will help us to stop the body count and contribute to increasing the life expectancy of our people.
We believe that through working together we can be able to improve our road safety record as a country, continent and the world in line with our strategic objective of building a better Africa and a better world.
Let us continue to work together to make road safety everybody’s responsibility.
We dare not falter and victory is certain!
Nothing about you, without you. Let’s talk!
I thank you.
