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"As the National Minister of Transport in the Republic of South Africa and principal of the nine MECs implicated in your letter, I have decided to make it my responsibility to proffer a response to your well-intentioned open letter as a concerned South African citizen."
Let me begin by taking this appealing opportunity to thank you for the very engaging and highly pertinent open letter which is aptly dedicated to myself, in my capacity as the Minister of Transport, and the nine Members of Executive Council (MECs) responsible for the transport portfolio in each of the South African Provinces.
I deem the letter fittingly consigned because as heads of political departments, under oath, we solemnly pledged to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa and to obey, respect and uphold the Constitution and all other laws of the Republic; with honour and dignity; to be true and faithful counsellors; and to perform the functions of our offices conscientiously and to the best of our abilities.
As the National Minister of Transport in the Republic of South Africa and principal of the nine MECs implicated in your letter, I have decided to make it my responsibility to proffer a response to your well-intentioned open letter as a concerned South African citizen.
This response should not in any way be viewed as an attempt to shirk responsibility nor to absolve myself or any of the transport heads from the constitutional oaths we have taken as political leaders in the Public Service. But rather, let it be seen as one of the hallmarks of the South African government’s democratic precepts and dispensation, which encourages and allows for active citizen participation, accountability, and freedom of speech, amongst many other liberal civil and political rights that we enjoy as a republic.
Foremost, I would like to indicate that I share the same sentiments with you on the 14% increase on road crash fatalities being too high. However, I strongly believe that a significant amount of the fatalities can be apportioned what I see as a moral decay in our society.
I have noted with a sharp sense of despair that too many South Africans think it is acceptable to drive while under the influence of alcohol, while callousness and little respect for human life are dangerously ubiquitous. This is evident in the high number of fatal road crashes which were caused by human factors (73.6%) during the festive period under review (01 Dec 2015 – 11 Jan 2016). These human factors include, but are not limited to the following:
- Jaywalking (42.6%)
- Excessively high speeds (16.3%)
- Overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic (8.9%)
- Intoxicated Drivers (5.9%)
Despite a number of interventions, engagements, educational and awareness initiatives aimed at changing the behaviour and the attitude of our road users, we continue to bear witness to the relentless and flagrant flouting of traffic laws which leads to scores of preventable deaths on our roads.
Personally, as an individual who has lost several people whom I hold closest to my heart, due to road crashes, and naturally as a Minister who champions road safety almost on a daily basis, I am quite perturbed by the two traffic incidents you say that you witnessed on your eventful journey from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein and back.
The incidents point to abominable offences such as speeding, possible drunken driving and dangerous overtaking. I am delighted that, today; I can only hope that this kind of behaviour is on its last legs because government is in the process of developing a multi-pronged and interdepartmental approach to deal with these type of violations.
With regards to liquor, the Department of Transport is working in collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the Department of Health in a concerted effort to decrease the liquor intake threshold by road users and to control the availability of alcohol during stipulated periods when road users are prone to crashes.
You will also be pleased to learn that on 19 January 2016, I met with Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to deliberate on a number of matters that affect our society in this regard. The engagement was inspired by the commitment to eradicate lawlessness on our roads and instil a culture of self- regulation, and intensification of law enforcement. At this engagement, various interventions that will yield the desired outcomes with regard to lawlessness on our roads were looked into.
A number of permutations and interventions considered included amongst others:
• The re-classification of serious road traffic offences to Schedule1, 2 Part 11& 111 of the Criminal Procedure Act, and immediately ensure that section 59 of the Criminal Procedure Act is not applicable when the offences are reclassified.
• The consideration of the minimum mandatory sentences was mooted in an endeavour that all convicted offenders spend at least two years behind bars. Equally important was a deep soul searching consideration for imposition of heavy penalties and / or fines for traffic offences.
• In the prioritisation of serious traffic offences the meeting also considered the creation and the roll out of traffic courts as well as dedicated traffic courts.
Very stringent timelines were given to the joint working committee representing both departments, led by senior managers who are to report fortnightly to both Ministers.
The measures I have mentioned are a clear indication that we are addressing the root causes of the high prevalence of road crashes in South Africa.
Law enforcement
Consistent law enforcement is one of the central pillars in our efforts to reduce carnage on our roads. Naturally, I am disappointed by the situation you have described but I am encouraged by the fact that you have taken it upon yourself to bring this matter to our attention. While government must take steps to ensure that traffic officers are always doing their work when deployed on the roads, it is also incumbent upon each and every citizen to report unprofessional and unethical conduct of these officials wherever and whenever they witness such behaviour.
The fight against corruption continues to be taken forward by the Anti-Corruption Inter Ministerial Committee. Government has in place seven anti-corruption institutions and 17 pieces of legislation which are intended to combat corruption. This demonstrates a concerted effort by government to break the back of this scourge in the country. However our communities can play a crucial and critical role by resisting the temptation to bribe traffic officers.
I am of the firm view that many of the shortcomings you have identified with the conduct of traffic officers would be remedied once we start with the process of harmonising traffic and law-enforcement to ensure compliance, in particular with agreed uniform national standards. Together with the MECs, we are working towards the attainment of these goals and continued improvement in the performance of our law-enforcement officers. This is a duty that we take seriously and we are all committed to ensuring the situation is turned around sooner rather than later.
Safety on our roads is everyone’s responsibilty and we must forever be catious on the roads. The Department of Transport will go to every length and breadth, and shall stop at nothing until every single soul on our roads is safe. We cannot afford these senseless carnages and killings on our roads as accidents are indeed preventable.
E.D Peters, Minister of Transport
*Read the letter to the minister HERE.
