 
SPEECH AT THE GRADUATION CEREMONY FOR ROAD TRAFFIC INSPECTORATE OFFICERSMinister of Transport, Mr Sibusiso Ndebele
Master of Ceremonies It is now a fact that the department is known across the country for its work the work all of us do, especially you here today. Every time I visit other provinces especially, Gauteng, everyone remarks about one thing and one thing alone, our Zero Tolerance philosophy. I have been told time and time again that if there is only one traffic force very serious about its work it is this one here. Tonight we are here to congratulate 21 new officers that have endured this past six months of hard work and study. This is a very tough course that prepares the officers to face the more important task of guarding people*s lives out there. The importance of such a task cannot be undermined. The graduates have been taught through the traffic training college the academics of the Road Traffic Act and other legislation. It is not only the academics of the legislation that you have been taught but you have had the opportunity to have practical experience on applying this information. This batch of officers is well up-to-date with the latest traffic legislative amendments such as how to deal with those that haven't complied with the Credit Card Format (CCF) licences. The issue of the CCF licences, as all of us know, has been a very thorny and controversial one. However, sometimes change is not always welcomed. For us to move towards a safer road environment we have had to ensure that all our drivers have the CCF licence. About seven hundred thousand people in this province have converted to the new license format. Obviously there have been people who have not heeded the call to convert on time. Either because they did not have legitimate licences or just did not bother to change their licenses. Whatever the reason for that may be, they are now sitting with invalid ID book licences. You are now going to go out of here and ensure that people without licences should not be driving on our roads. The CCF licence will also ensure that we can implement the Points Demerit System (PDS) due to take place next year. The road to lesser crashes is a tough one. It is tough because there are so many bends and turns that need negotiating before we reach the destination. One of those challenging turns is that a lot of motorists cannot see properly. As we all drive, we proceed with the hope that the other drivers and road users can see the road and us too. Sadly, there are a lot of people whose vision is not 20/20 and they traverse our roads daily. Some do so legally in the course of their duties. As government we do not wish to intentionally disadvantage people. To address this problem, I have recently; in parliament announce our campaign of Siyabona Bonakala - to assist primarily taxi, bus, government and freight industry drivers, who need them, to acquire affordable spectacles. Through targeting these people we hope to ultimately reduce the number of people who have poor vision but have to drive to earn a living. We wish to ensure that those people charged with transporting the majority of our people do so in a safe manner. As the drivers see the road, we need to ensure that our traffic officers are also seen on the road. A high visibility for officers on the roads is something that the public sees as a commitment to their road safety. It makes them feel safer and protected. It is your, duty as traffic officers to protect and serve the public. I also do hope that we will soon be able to employ more officers to fill the 60 plus vacant traffic officer positions as the moratorium on filling vacant post is lifted soon. Tonight, these officers will receive certificates of appointment as peace officers, and diplomas as traffic officers. This means that they will be suitable for duty as from tomorrow morning. I am confident, therefore, that these officers will actually be able to do their work properly tomorrow because of the training that we have offered them. They have been trained properly and adequately to be able to do what all of us expect of them. It would be amiss of me not to congratulate, particularly, the top student for this course Mr. H.G. Khaki. Of the entire 21 students, he graduates Cum Laude tonight. Keep it up. To the rest of the team, who have also excelled in different subjects, I say you now know why we are called the best province with regard to road safety practices. We have excellent people, such as yourselves, who make us proud through your performance. The challenge is still huge. The road crashes are still too many. Too many people are still victims of this preventable and curable disease that happens on the roads. You are now sent out to help cure this disease. You are sent out from here to help save as many lives as you can. The path will not be easy yet you will have to persevere. You need to be ambassadors of proper and good behaviour on our roads as all eyes will now focus on your behaviour. I know that you will see tremendously ghastly things in the course of your work. Let that always be a challenge to all of you to help reduce the amount of these terrible crashes. As a population of KwaZulu-Natal we now turn to you for assistance and protection. Can we count on you? Thank you.
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