MEDIA STATEMENT

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE EDENDALE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE 

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Mr S'bu Ndebele has warned all drivers that they only have two days left to the deadline date for the conversion of existing driving licences to the new credit card format and that stiff fines and penalties will be imposed on defaulters as from 1 March 2003.

Speaking at the official opening of the Edendale Hospital Bridge at Edendale in Pietermartizburg, Ndebele said we are also going to intensify our campaign against fraudulent licences, but most importantly we will be paving a ways towards the Point Demerit System (PDS) which will inculcate a road safety culture in our Province and indeed the whole of South Africa.

Hundreds of people including Members of Parliament, Mayors, Councillors, Traditional Leaders, members of the community and other stakeholders were present at the opening which Ndebele said highlights and draws attention both to our horrific road crash statistics and the fact that government is determined to end the carnage on our road network.

"Statistical evidence collected over many years highlights the fact that the Edendale road is one of the busiest and worst collision routes in KwaZulu-Natal. Research conducted by the University of Natal Interdisciplinary Accident Research Centre (UNIARC) highlights the fact that road users themselves perceive the Edendale road to be unsafe. Almost half (46, 8%) of the University's research sample claim to have either been directly involved in or to have witnessed a collision on the Edendale road," Ndebele said.

"Today's opening ceremony of this pedestrian bridge over the Edendale road bears testimony to Government*s resolve to reduce road related crashes and to do so in partnership with the community at large. Our campaign is now putting more emphasis on pedestrian safety because research indicates they have become the most vulnerable of all road users. I must emphasize the fact that we do not regard human beings as statistics but the methods we use to save lives must be based on an accurate reflection of what happens on our roads and that  means resorting to numbers as accurate indicators of what occurs on our roads," said Ndebele.

"Our social contract with Edendale road users is a contract that recognises that the vast majority of road users rely on taxis and public transport to meet their mobility needs. We have committed ourselves to facilitate the formation of Commuter Associations and to take  seriously our Passenger Rights Charter. Our social contract with Edendale road users recognises the fact that a disproportionate number of road related deaths and injuries occur to pedestrians. It is for this very reason that we have built this pedestrian bridge over the Edendale road. I am asking you, here today, to respect the Edendale Pedestrian Bridge. To use it and, in this way, ensure greater safety on the Edendale road," Ndebele said.

"Creating a safe road environment is within our power. It is within our power to look deep into our own behaviour and judge where we, ourselves have contributed towards making our roads unsafe for ourselves and for others. It is within our power to challenge and change our own antisocial road behaviour," said Ndebele.

Ndebele concluded by saying that Government in South Africa today is committed to a road safety strategy that views traffic control and enforcement within the context of a social contract, or partnership, with all citizens to make travel safer.

ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!! ALERT!!!

Mahendra Ramsunder (32)and Venokanthan Perumal Govender (22), former employees of the Isipingo Roadworthiness Test Station near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal will appear in the Durban Magistrates Court tomorrow (Wednesday * 26/02/2003) at 09h00 to be sentenced after being found guilty of 676 counts of Fraud relating to the fraudulent issue certificates of roadworthiness.

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