SPEECH (NOTES) BY KWAZULU-NATAL MEC FOR TRANSPORT, COMMUNITY SAFETY & LIAISON, MR. B.H. CELE AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE MOBILE LEARNER’S LICENCE TESTING FACILITY HELD AT INGWAVUMA ON MONDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2005.

All Protocol Observed.

 

  • It gives me the greatest of pleasure to welcome all of you here today, to share with us this important milestone in the history of road safety in South Africa.
  • On 13 December 2004 we launched our new slogan, “From Zero Tolerance to 100% Compliance”. The intention of the new slogan is to ensure that when laws are not obeyed, our law enforcement agencies act decisively. It is a slogan that says, as government we have the capacity to enforce our laws.
  • On that score, attacking inefficiency, fraud and corruption in our driver licensing and vehicle registration and testing systems forms an integral part of our mandate.
  • Bad drivers kill people. Untrained and unlicensed drivers are bad drivers. My Department has therefore spent and is continuing to spend millions of rand on the upgrading of our Driving Licence Test Centres.
  • The defects at all the non-compliant sites are already known and documented, and we have made considerable progress towards ensuring that compliance is achieved.
  • Driver and learner licence fraud puts incompetent drivers on our roads. It is even worse when it is present in the public passenger transport sector as it directly puts thousands of lives at risk. But it also leads to loss of revenue and places an unacceptable additional strain on our health services and the economy as a whole. Therefore, we are determined to stamp it out.
  • In KwaZulu-Natal, we were the first province to set up a Special Inspectorate for Counter-Corruption and Ethical Standards as early as 1997. Over the years this unit has progressed to become a highly-specialized and effective component within our Road Traffic Inspectorate. The members of this unit have been subjected to rigorous internal and external training programmes and have established strong working relationships with the SAPS and the Justice Department, enabling them to achieve very significant successes in uncovering corruption in Driving Licence Test Centres.
  • As we speak, numerous prosecutions are currently taking place right across our province. We are also making use of the services of the National Intelligence Agency and the Special Investigative Unit to carry out ad hoc inspection blitzes and investigations.
  • It therefore gives me considerable satisfaction today to officially launch our Mobile Learner’s Licence Testing Facility, which is indeed yet another first for South Africa and perhaps one of few such facilities in the world.
  • This new system is aimed at rooting out fraud and corruption which has cost the Department of Transport millions of rand over several years.
  • This testing programme is user-friendly and can be easily operated by everyone, including those people who are not computer literate.
  • This mobile learner’s licence testing facility is yet another practical example of our government’s commitment to ensure that we take service delivery to the people.
  • At our departmental summit held earlier this year in Ulundi, repeated calls were made for the use of technology as a teaching aid in the field of road safety, and for licensing services to be taken to the people.
  • The launch of this learner’s licence facility at Ingwavuma today brings a service that has never been provided to the people of Ingwavuma before, as well as other similar areas in KwaZulu-Natal.
  • Had it not been for a facility such as this, the people of Ingwavuma and other surrounding areas would normally have to travel a round trip of more than 400 kilometres in order to write a learner’s licence test.
  • Today they have the opportunity of sitting for a learner’s licence examination in a state-of-the-art facility where quality examinations can be conducted with professionalism and fairness guaranteed.
  • This electronic format learner’s licence test completely eliminates the need for interpreters, any form of discrimination or misunderstanding, and tests the applicant in a fair and proper way without the opportunity for any intervention by the examiner.
  • Clearly this brings huge benefits in terms of antifraud, overcoming language barriers and promoting the value of the learner's licence required in terms of this testing dispensation.
  • For now, two complete 13-seater learner licence classrooms have each been built onto a heavy motor vehicle chassis.
  • Each of these vehicles will be operated by a driver, examiner and clerk who will travel around the province on a scheduled programme to meet the needs of rural communities, and in particular school learners’ for whom a learner’s licence is a valuable widow of opportunity for future employment.
  • It also means that the learner’s licence service will be provided in many more areas than is presently the case, without the need for government to build expensive infrastructure as well as the permanent placement of staff, as these vehicles are mobile and self-contained.
  • It also means that in partnership with our rural road transport forums (RRTF’s) and community road safety councils (CRSC’s), people can be prepared through education and training sessions for learner licence tests.
  • Applicants no longer have to travel long distances, thus making the cost of acquiring a learner’s licence much cheaper. The cost of additional public transport fares is now taken away. Obtaining your learner’s licence in a rural area will now cost the same as obtaining it at any urban centre. This initiative is also in line with e-government.
  • Applicants from far-flung areas of the province will now be able to undergo a fair, equitable and proper test. This test is free from human interference and once completed will be taken to a permanent licensing centre where the information will be downloaded. Perceptions about learner licences being fraudulently obtained will now also decrease as this system guarantees a high value document.
  • Thirteen people per class can sit for a test and a maximum of four sessions can be conducted each day. The vehicle is also able to remain in a certain area for a number of days depending on the demand.
  • What we want from the system is very clear, and why we want it is clearer still.
  • First and foremost, we want to use the new system as a means of ensuring that we take government services to the people, especially our previously disadvantaged communities.
  • We also want to use the system as a means of eliminating corruption at the very first stage of the licensing process. The application process must be separated in time from the taking of the test. At the application stage, the learner will be digitally thumb-printed and photographed and the images will be stored on the system. When the applicant returns to take the test, he or she will have to match the digitally-stored thumb-print and image.
  • Also, for the first time an iris print, which is a laser picture of the iris of your eye, is taken. It must be noted that each person’s iris is completely unique and has more integrity than a thumbprint, and much more integrity than a signature.
  • The system then randomly generates a set of questions from a database of over 400 possible questions and answers, and the test is internally marked by the machine. The complete system incorporates the most modern security and control features, providing an "input-only" opportunity on all operational levels, while at the same time keeping a full audit trail of all actions. Questions cannot be spotted; hence you have to study properly which will assist us in producing better quality learner drivers.
  • Further - but just as importantly in another sense - the system offers a genuinely user-friendly environment to the applicant. Questions are presented through visual graphics on-screen and answers entered by touching the correct image. The test is currently available in four official languages which are English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and Xhosa.
  • However, plans are afoot to ensure that the system is upgraded to cater for all eleven official languages. Applicants will have to select their answer by touching the appropriate section on the computer screen. The system also offers audio support through headphones in any of the four above-mentioned languages.
  • Once the test has been completed, the applicant will know immediately whether they have passed the test.
  • This system allows us to do away with examiner’s marking of scripts and the errors and corruption. It will also assist us to address the backlog in testing of people for learner’s licences.
  • What is most important about this is that, for the first time ever in South Africa we will be offering a more equitable learner licence test experience that pays special attention to the needs of educationally disadvantaged applicants.
  • All the actions I’ve been talking about here relate to the fundamental link between driver training and certification and driver competence. The K-53 test is a world-class test if it is properly administered and not sabotaged or by-passed. But we will never finally reach the stage where there is no bad, aggressive or reckless driving on our roads. We want to cut down its incidence drastically, but we will still need to catch offenders and ensure that enforcement is followed up by a speedy and efficient adjudication process.
  • In conclusion, the launch of this project forms part of our activities that have been planned for Public Transport Month in KwaZulu-Natal.
  • The Month of October has been declared National Public Transport Month and I urge you to actively participate in the various programmes and activities that have been planned.

Remember:

  • Public Transport makes the economy work!!
  • A better and sustainable Public Transport system is ONLY possible with the participation of citizens!
     
  • Public Transport is for all irrespective of social status.
     
  • Most South Africans cannot live without public transport.
     
  • Improvements in Public Transport infrastructure is for better services.

Together, let us champion the speedy transformation of public transport services in KwaZulu-Natal.


Thank You.




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