“Motor vehicles have become the deadliest weapons of mass destruction in recent history,” said MEC for Transport, Roads and Public Works, Thandiswa Marawu, in her keynote address at the memorial service for 20 Western Cape car crash victims.
In her speech, Marawu said research shows that:
“Motor vehicles have become the deadliest weapons of mass destruction in recent history,” said MEC for Transport, Roads and Public Works, Thandiswa Marawu, in her keynote address at the memorial service for 20 Western Cape car crash victims.
In her speech, Marawu said research shows that:
-Africa's road deaths (of over 200 000 every year) will rise by 80% by 2020.
-By 2015 road crashes will be the number one killer of children aged 5-14 in Africa; outstripping Malaria and HIV/AIDS.
-In South Africa, road crashes result in at least 40 deaths every day, 1 000 deaths every month and 14 000 a year, also leaving scores injured.
-Globally, road crashes account for 1.3 million deaths annually. The carnage is estimated to cost more than R60 billion to the domestic economy.
With the launch of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020, road safety has moved from being a national and a continental issue to being a global challenge. “This means that we must act and act now!”
“As we move towards the festive season, we will intensify 'Operation Asihleki', which is our provincial campaign that contributes to the implementation of the National Rolling Enforcement Plan (NREP),” Marawu said. Through this plan, Eastern Cape law enforcement agencies are expected to stop and screen 85 000 vehicles a month.
Since the start of the implementation of NREP in October 2010, more than one million vehicles have been stopped and screened in the province. After congratulating the efforts of road law enforcers, she added, “I hope that this service will help our traffic officers to understand us when we say they must start to work 24/7 in an effort to protect the lives of our people.”
The latest NREP report shows that 12 015 public transport vehicles have been discontinued or impounded to date, which includes 1 910 buses and 2 239 taxis.
Marawu urged commuters to play a role by informing the law enforcement agencies of any problems they encounter on the roads through calling the Customer Care Centre toll free number 0800 644 644. She also appealed to people driving long distances over the festive season to ensure that they have at least two drivers per vehicle in order to deal with the challenge of fatigue.
