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SPEECH BY KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER OF TRANSPORT, MR S'BU NDEBELE, AT OPENING OF THE NATIONAL PEDESTRIAN MONTH13 February 2001, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal
Honourable Minister, Dullah Omar "We march into the new era of the African Century as Africans who have made the determination that this century will be a hundred years in which we cease to be victims of our own circumstances but become victors." These visionary words uttered by President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address at the opening of Parliament on 9 February 2001, perhaps mark the turning point in the way in which we as South Africans should be perceiving our manifold challenges. President Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation Address has covered almost every aspect of our lives as South Africans belonging to a continent that is undergoing a 'Renewal'. When the President urges us to move away from the victim to victor syndrome, he is in actual fact encouraging us to continue with those programmes and projects that promote the vision of a better life for all. We in the Department of Transport have contextualised the President's message in various ways through our National and KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. This morning we launch a very important national initiative which is aimed at reducing the number of pedestrians killed on South African roads. During December 2000, 867 people died on our roads nationally. Of these over a third were pedestrians. This means that 320 people who were not even in vehicles lost their lives, and 320 families lost loved ones during this one-month alone. In KwaZulu-Natal, where we have achieved a substantial reduction in fatalities of more than one third since 1996, the actual percentage of pedestrians killed has not decreased. In 1997, 41% of fatalities were of pedestrians. By 1998, this had increased to more than 44%, and over part of the recent Christmas period, it was again down to about 41%. We need to urgently address this critical situation. The initiative which we are launching today is a joint effort between the National Department of Transport and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), as well as the provinces. It was workshopped during mid- January when representatives of all nine provinces identified 10 locations in their respective regions which are particularly hazardous to pedestrians and undertook to initiate remedial engineering measures in those locations. The engineering projects would be supported in each province by appropriate education efforts aimed at both adults and children and by public awareness and enforcement campaigns to ensure compliance in the new or changed facilities. The CSIR is responsible for the evaluation of these 90 projects and for preparing a report on the effectiveness of the campaign. The decision to launch the national campaign in KwaZulu-Natal's region of Mpumalanga has an interesting historical significance. Mpumalanga was one of he first areas in KwaZulu-Natal to experience horrendous political violence in the mid and late 1980s. According to the Truth Commission Report, on page 195 under volume 3, "The area had, by 1988/9 become a "no-go" area with rampant political conflict and fuelled in part by the involvement of special constables attached to SAP Riot Units. This community decided that it was going to do something to stop the violence, and was one of the first in this province to join hands across political boundaries and change their situation. In 1990, the peace efforts of Dr Meshack Hadebe and Mr Sipho Mlaba achieved international recognition when the United States Consulate awarded both men the Martin Luther King Peace Award for their efforts in stopping the violence and putting structures in place to ensure peace. What is important to us today is that we have initiated a system where, in a similar way, communities take ownership of the road carnage in their respective areas, in this region, there is an operative Community Road Safety Council under the Chairmanship of Mr Mzolo which is responsible for this initiative. Around 30 Community Road Safety Council are operating in KwaZulu-Natal, mainly in rural and previously disadvantaged areas. Their identification of black spots leads to the kind of progress that we are seeing today here in Mpumalanga. When communities are allowed to initiate road safety projects, to inform and educate their communities and to raise public awareness about problems, we will see changes in behaviour occur which will change lives. Pedestrian problems are not restricted to South Africa. As indicated in the Global Road Safety Partnerships literature, they are prevalent in all developing and transitional societies because of a variety of factors. In some countries, pedestrian fatalities amount to up to 70% of road deaths. Although ours is much less at between 30-40% in the various provinces, it is still unacceptably high. Factors which have exaggerated the problem in South Africa would include lack of infrastructure such as adequate pavements or road crossing facilities, lack of education in road usage, a traffic mix with vehicles and pedestrians sharing the road, poor town and transport planning of facilities such as schools, community halls, bars and shebeens, as well as an absence of enforcement in areas such as this one. The Arrive Alive Pedestrian Month and its culminating Pedestrian Week which lasts from 25 - 31 March 2001, dictate that provinces organise events at hazardous locations towards raising public awareness around pedestrian issues, and highlighting the multi-faceted approach to remediation i.e. engineering, education, enforcement and evaluation. We are confident that involving communities in the identification of hazardous locations, and also in both the planning and implementation of projects, will raise public awareness around pedestrian issues, encourage ownership and responsibility and help us to bring down the number of pedestrians related deaths. Road Safety is not just the responsibility of the government; it is a national responsibility, involving every road user. In the final analysis, I would not like to end without emphasising that the renewal of our country and indeed that of our continent will never occur through some mysterious forces operating on the principle of inevitability. Rather it will occur through the combined efforts of all South Africans Black and White, Men and Women, Drivers and Pedestrians alike. I thank you.
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