Gauteng roads still not safe

27 January 2020

Gauteng has the recorded 254 road fatalities and has been ranked as the province with the second highest number of road fatalities over the festive season.

This was revealed by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula during his announcement on the number of festive season road accidents.

It is worrying that this province which has a high number of commuters and motorists coming in and out of the province during that peak period has recorded the second highest number of road carnages.

This high number of road accidents and fatalities is a clear indication that road safety campaigns are not effective and do not yield the desired results.

Education and road safety awareness campaigns need to start at school in order to be effective in the long term. Ensuring that learners are educated about the rules of the road from a young age will help promote a culture of road safety awareness.

The system that is used for drivers’ licences needs to be overhauled as it is open to corruption. Learner drivers need to be tested on different driving conditions and scenarios and not just on road signs. This will show whether the learner driver is able to make the right decisions while driving, making our roads safer.

Corruption within in the Traffic Department has to be addressed. People buying their driver’s licence or bribing traffic officers contributes significantly to road deaths.

It is high time that the Department of Transport installs cameras at all testing stations in the province. Learners’ tests also need to be administered electronically to clamp down on corruption.

The ANC-run provincial government needs to take decisive action on corruption in the various traffic departments, as failure to do so will continue our high rate of road fatalities.

Issued by Fred Nel,DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Transport, 27 January 2020