DOT’s Omela Ngasekhaya programme now on film

A film documentary that looks at the KZN Department of Transport’s Omela Ngasekhaya (drink nearer home) programme has been completed. It is expected to be available in libraries within and outside the DOT soon.

The Department’s Community Road Safety Councils will take advantage of the new film to educate people in taverns about road safety.

The film may be broadcast on SABC as part of the Department’s road safety education campaign. Last year, the Department serialised a documentary on TV 1 that looked at the African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme (ARRUP).

ARRUP is a ministerial programme aimed at improving the quality of life of people in rural areas by providing a reliable road network. The ARRUP film is now available at the Department of Transport’s communications section.

Moreover, a documentary on the root-cause of violence in public transport is also available in Zulu and English, especially for educational and research purposes. The latter contains scenes depicting violence. Viewer discretion is advisable.

The Omela Ngasekhaya film is the third 15-minute documentary dealing with a Departmental programme that has been commissioned through the Communications directorate over the last two years.

The Omela film, which will soon be available to the public, opens with the attractions of KwaZulu-Natal as epitomised by the Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini, Durban beaches, traditional music, dance, and other tourist attractions.

It features Minister Ndebele addressing crowds on road safety, traffic officers on the road, and is sustained by DOT CEO, Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, his Road Safety staff, and various communities and taverns in KwaZulu-Natal.

In a natural way, the film actually explores the obvious connection between law enforcement and road safety. Does anyone have a problem understanding the connection?

It’s simple. On the one hand, road safety education is about empowering the people with information that would enable them to become competent and safer road users. On the other hand, law enforcement is about making a point that those who fail to observe safer conduct on the road are answerable to the law. This means that there are fines, roadside courts and prison for road offenders.

As Minister Ndebele often says, when road safety education fails, law enforcement takes over. This is precisely because even the most informed people do chose to ignore the rules on the road.

The Omela Ngasekhaya film isolates alcohol as one of the key contributory factors towards road carnage, particularly involving pedestrians. Pedestrians are most affected by road accidents in South Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal.

Omela carries interviews with alcohol users and tavern owners arguing that tavern owners benefit from alcohol users by selling drinks to them. That is why it is important for the tavern owners to ensure that their lives are safe so that their customers keep bringing them business.

Omela is a must see. Packed with illustrations that tell a story of a Department engaged in constructive discourse with the people at grassroots level, the film succeeds to be entertaining, yet educational and informative.

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