THE Gauteng Department of Community Safety, as the lead department in the implementation of road safety strategy in the province, remains committed to ensuring the safety of commuters and drivers on its roads.
The department has developed a safety strategy response plan over the years as an instrument of integration and co-ordination of law enforcement initiatives as well as interventions.
Further, the department will complement enforcement initiatives this Easter season by deploying community patrollers at identified public transport hubs to provide help and support to the general travelling public.
The department is working with other responsible departments such as transport in ensuring that we have an accident-free Easter. With the national Department of Transport we launched the Easter road safety campaign on March 20 at the Heidelberg Weighbridge, with the aim of curbing road crashes in the province.
While we are currently observing the heightened Easter season, road safety continues to be a matter of concern to the government. The Easter period sees tens of thousands of South Africans flocking out of the province for holiday and religious pilgrimages. This is also a time when our roads are at their busiest, with motorists heading to their various destinations across the country. However, the Easter period is usually marked by carnage on the roads and a high number of car accidents, with many of them leading to fatalities. During this period, many valuable lives are lost as a result of road traffic accidents.
Easter last year saw Gauteng record a 57% increase in road fatalities, with 38 people losing their lives. What is of concern is that pedestrians made up a high number of these fatalities. Drinking and driving or driving under the influence appear to be a key contribution to road crashes. Speeding and reckless driving have also been a major cause for concern. Unroadworthy vehicles and overloading have also contributed significantly to the bloodbath on the country’s roads. Most of these accidents occurred on busy highways. Human error is the most common factor in most.
Despite deploying 18000 traffic police officers nationwide, drivers still choose to be negligent and disobey the rules of the road, thus causing our roads to be the biggest killers of people in this country.
We must work together to ensure that our roads are safe and fatalities are reduced. Anyone who disobeys the rules of the road will face the full wrath of the law as there will be zero-tolerance towards reckless driving in Gauteng over the Easter season.
The rush to make a profit gives rise to serious forms of dangerous driving such as reckless and negligent driving, disregard for traffic signals and the overloading of passengers. Motorists, particularly public transport operators, are called upon to exercise the necessary caution in making road safety a priority considering the alarming number of road accidents reported in recent times.
The department will continue to raise awareness on road safety, profile Gauteng law enforcement operations in curbing road fatalities and addressing social trio-crimes this Easter and beyond, raise awareness on law enforcement zero-tolerance of all traffic violations and mobilise many voices to sustain the Easter communication effort.
As Gauteng, we must wage a war against road fatalities over Easter. We must also utilise our existing educational programmes to promote the plan. It is also our duty to reach out to our public transport operators at taxi ranks to inform and educate passengers on the importance of staying safe during this period.
The department has been very active on all social media platforms, setting the agenda for general engagement and feedback on road safety.
The safety of our passengers within our public transport system remains a priority for law enforcement agencies. We will ensure that they work tirelessly to ensure the safety of passengers in Gauteng.
I call upon the law enforcement authorities to act decisively in dealing with those drivers who don’t comply with the rules of the road and appeal to road users to be vigilant and patient and to adhere to the rules of the road to save the lives of passengers.
* Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane is MEC for Community Safety in Gauteng.