KZNDoT and Cadbury's Initiative

‘Obey the rules or pay the price.’ That is one of the messages contained in a joint KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and sweet manufacturer Cadburys initiative to drive home road safety rules.

And the man from Cadbury’s tasked with taking this directive back to the communities and positioning them at strategic road points so that you can’t miss reading them – is Victor Zaba. Better known as "Bhuti Amaswedi" this quietly spoken man has been involved in the project since 1997 and has as his responsibility the whole of the province.

"It really began with the desire to do something about school children who kept getting knocked down in the townships. I mean we thought what could we do about this? After all the children are the ones buying the sweets and chocolates and supporting our business. We asked ourselves what could business do in return for the communities?" says Victor.

So the sweet and chocolate manufacturers teamed up with the Department of Transport and began erecting signs with messages like "Drive Slowly. We love our children" and placing them near schools. The thinking behind the project was that taxi drivers who are mostly responsible for transporting children to and from school would drive past the sign read it, think about it and then act on it.

And in essence the thinking behind this project remains – not just for taxi drivers but all road users.

Sign boards with this message in English and Zulu were then put up in Umlazi, KwaMashu, Lamontville, Chesterville, Folweni, KwaMakutha, Umbumbulu and Hammarsdale.

"It is part of Cadbury’s social responsibility programme and it is a challenge to do something for the communities that support them. It is an example of a government and private partnership", he says.

In 1999, Victor says, Cadbury’s teamed up with the Department of Transport’s "Arrive Alive" campaign and the signs erected then reflected messages in line with this campaign such as "Don’t fool yourself. Speed kills".

The signs were placed along freeways and at the main entrance points to townships and in this way the campaign expanded to where it is today.

The most up to date message being "Obey the Rules or Pay the Price" – one that Victor says comes from the Department of Transport’s Head of Department, Kwazi Mbanjwa.

Victor says to date the project has cost about R150 000 and needs to be expanded to other areas of the province like northern KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, the South coast and the Midlands.

He says one of the problems experienced with the project has been vandals who take the boards down and use them for housing.

"So we have to think very carefully about where the boards are placed", he says.

Visit the Cadbury’s website at www.cadburys.co.za

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