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SPEECH BY THE KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER OF TRANSPORT MR S’BU NDEBELE DURING THE ROAD TRAFFIC INSPECTORATE (RTI) PASSING OUT PARADE26 June 2002
Programme Director Thank you for attending the Passing Out Parade for our student traffic officers. We are gathered here to congratulate 26 student traffic officers who have completed the Traffic Officers Diploma Course. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, through its Traffic Training College, aims at providing appropriate training and development in order to ensure the delivery of professional service and leadership which meets the needs of the province and the country. Out of 26 students who completed the course, 10 are women. Diverse cultures are represented which will provide the required flexibility for the Department to focus on service delivery. This is a very demanding course which covers 36 modules over a period of 6 months. During this period the students not only learn theory but they are also dispatched to roadblocks, our own Departmental Summit as well as the Pietermaritzburg Royal Show. They are certified to use breathalysers, firearms, speed timing machines and in minimum force. It is clear therefore that the students who have graduated from this course come out as competent, confident and well-trained officers who will serve our province with pride. Plans are on pipeline to extend the traffic officers diploma course to nine months in order to extend the practical aspects of the course. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport is fully committed to saving lives by creating a safe road environment. Our efforts have not only received national acclaim but they have also attained international recognition. Early this year, our Department was visited by a group of Chinese Professors who wanted to learn from us how we deal with overloading which is the problem among all developing countries and emerging markets. Besides Mozambican Police, who visited our Department in November last year, the Swaziland and Botswana Police have also visited us because our dedication to overloading control has not been unnoticed by the international community. It is estimated that 25 per cent of all heavy vehicles travelling on South African Roads are overloaded yet this figure is less than halve in KwaZulu-Natal. It is clear to everyone, therefore that our Traffic Training College is a huge asset not only to the province and the country but also to the international community, judging by the presence of aforementioned visitors. Today I am proud to launch for the first time, a number of mini booze buses. The booze bus on display will be extensively used by our special operations group to target drink driving in the rural areas. The design of the bus will provide officers with greater mobility in order to reach and serve our community. Statistics inform us that at least 2 000 people are killed on our roads in KwaZulu-Natal each year. In most cases drunken driving is usually the primary cause. Nationally, the figure is 10 000 lives annually with an economic loss of R13, 5 billion out of which KwaZulu-Natal alone looses R2 billion. This is almost equal to the entire budget of our Department in this province. Therefore, when we devote our attention to training traffic officers, it is inline with our mission of saving lives guided by harsh realities we observe happening on our roads. In the final analysis, I want to congratulate all the students who are graduating here today. Commenting about education in general, a Brazillian philosopher, Paulo Freire, once said Education is a two edged sword, it can be repressive or liberating. And the education you have received from our Traffic Training College is indeed liberating for it will help liberate our province and indeed our country from road carnage. I thank you.
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