 
ADDRESS AT RTI AWARDS CEREMONY: LADYSMITH10 January 2003 by Dr Kwazi B Mbanjwa
Protocol Today’s Award Ceremony provides us with the occasion to both celebrate the achievements of colleagues and to reflect on the task at hand. Before moving on to the celebratory aspects of today’s ceremony, we need to reflect on the carnage on our roads and our role as Traffic Officials to do something about this unacceptable state of affairs. I have been informed that as at 8 January 2003 the official death toll for the province of KwaZulu-Natal over this Christmas holiday season is 259.
These deaths are the result of 199 fatal collisions. The current death toll for the country is 1 277. These statistics make shocking reading and my heart goes out to all the bereaved who have been left behind to deal with their lives that have been shattered by such unnecessary carnage. I repeat, unnecessary carnage. The causes of road crashes are well known. Indeed, the reason why we in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport have adopted the terminology "road crashes" and "road collisions" rather than the more conventional term of "road accidents" is precisely because most crashes are not accidental and could have been avoided. The main factors that cause crashes are:
Because the causes of road crashes are well known, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and other road authorities have been able to adopt a scientific approach to road safety campaigns and law enforcement. Thus, for example, the campaign "Speed Kills" is based on the fact that excessive speed is known to play a role in approximately 30% of all crashes and some 50% in the case of commercial freight and public passenger vehicles. Differential speed limits that are set for private passenger vehicles, public passenger vehicles and commercial freight are based on longitudinal statistical data that allows traffic authorities to set speed limits that will protect the public and not inconvenience them. We, as traffic authorities, know that there is a direct link between speed and road crashes. We, as traffic authorities, have promoted the notion that speed kills in a wide variety of ways ranging from radio, television and newspaper adverts to mass rallies. Indeed, it is hard for me to believe that the public have not got the message "Speed Kills". It is sobering to report that during this festive season alone 56 105 drivers were fined by the RTI for speeding. Some examples of excessive speeds at which motorists were trapped include 189 km per hour at Vryheid, 188 km per hour at Camperdown and 177 km per hour at Cato Ridge. Over 400 motorists have appeared before the two roadside magistrate courts at Bergville and Cato Ridge since 1 December 2002. 90% of court appearances have involved speeding. Other driver factors include driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor. During this festive season 101 motorists were arrested for drinking and driving. Further, in crashes involving pedestrians, walking under the influence of alcohol is known to be a contributory factor in 40% to 50% of vehicle / pedestrian collisions in urban areas and 30% to 40% in rural areas. It is these statistics on pedestrian fatalities – and pedestrian fatalities accounted for 42% of all road related deaths during this festive season – that inform our campaign "Omela Ngasekhaya". Basic driver incompetence is also a known factor in the causes of road crashes. Basic driver incompetence includes not wearing a seat belt, driving without a drivers licence and driving with a forged or fraudulently issued licence. Again it is sobering to report that this festive season 1 617 motorists were charged for not wearing a seat belt and 791 were fined for not carrying a valid drivers licence. If time permitted I could reflect on how the overloading of passengers and freight and poor management of vehicles both in terms of vehicle safety features – worn tyres, poor brakes, fraudulent roadworthiness certificates – and drivers – driver fatigue, valid licences, medical fitness – all contribute to the carnage on our roads. South Africans need to face up to the inescapable and irrefutable fact that more than 80% of all road crashes can be directly attributed to road user factors and a failure to observe the rule of law on our roads. It is only when the public own the road carnage on our roads as their responsibility that we will be able to significantly improve road safety in South Africa. We, in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, have worked hard to form a social contract between government and the public and between all citizens to make road safety everyone’s business. We have held mass rallies such as those held under the banner of Siyabakhumbula as part of an intense communications strategy designed to heighten public awareness concerning the non accidental nature of most road collisions and their associated costs. We have introduced road safety into the curriculum of schools and have pioneered innovative community participation programmes through the establishment of Community Road Safety Councils throughout KwaZulu-Natal. There is no doubt at all in my mind that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and, in particular, the RTI and Asiphephe have done everything that they could to ensure that our social contract with the public to make our roads safer and to make road safety everyone’s business. We have, through Asiphephe, put in place a wide range of programmes to inform the public about road safety concerns and to assist law abiding road users to protect themselves against the unlawful. We have, through the RTI, intensified our enforcement campaigns to clamp down on unlawful road behaviour to deter lawbreakers on our roads from causing injury to themselves and to innocent others. We have gone about our Zero Tolerance campaign in a scientific way focussing on the major known causes of road crashes. These are speed, drunken driving, overloading, unroadworthy vehicles and negligent driving. Since 1 December 2002 Traffic Officers have worked 88 323 officer hours and travelled 389 884 kilometres. Despite their efforts road crashes and road fatalities have increased over this festive season. This is disappointing in as much as statistics indicate that there has been a general downward trend in crash and fatality rates since 1994. However, here I would like to be quite clear that whether the statistics show a small upward trend or a small downward trend is not really the issue. The real issue is that crash rates in South Africa are unacceptably high and it is almost impossible to find any South African whose life has not been adversely affected by some act of road violence. This makes road safety every citizen’s responsibility and not just a government "thing". I would also like to be quite frank. I am extremely disappointed in the media coverage of road fatalities over this festive season. With very few exceptions the media has attacked government for its failure to end the carnage on our roads. Perhaps it would be more public spirited of the media to campaign with us to tighten enforcement measures and to heighten public awareness to ensure public support for tougher enforcement measures even when such enforcement programmes might prove inconvenient to law abiding road users. I think that we are all aware that it is only when South African citizens, as road users, internalise road safety norms and values and develop a culture of tolerance that we will experience peace on our roads. We in KwaZulu-Natal, perhaps more than any other province in South Africa, know just what commitment and sacrifice is required to secure peace. I am therefore appealing to all public minded citizens, including the media, to join us in securing a lasting culture of road tolerance and road safety in KwaZulu-Natal. We must commit ourselves to a spirit of critical and constructive self-introspection that will contribute towards achieving this noble objective. Let us now move to the celebratory side of today’s ceremony. Today’s awards acknowledge a wide range of excellence in performance in several key areas. Clearly not everyone can be a winner. Before announcing who has won what I would like to commend all of you, students and instructors alike, for the enthusiasm and diligence you have shown for all 36 modules that have been covered during this course. Certainly any interested person could assess your curriculum and conclude that you have acquired skills in a wide range of duties and not just speed trapping! Ladysmith region has done extremely well and has been awarded the following trophies:
Again I would like to congratulate who have received trophies but all of you who have conducted yourselves in a manner befitting an officer in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport Road Traffic Inspectorate. I would like to use this opportunity to wish you and your families all the best in 2003 and that GOD THE ALMIGHTY may empower you to prosper in every respect and that all your good wishes become reality. Go out there with all dedication, commitment, enthusiasm, voodoo and oomph to uplift and better the standard of living for our Nation. Together we will overcome. I thank you.
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