24 hour traffic law enforcement is on the cards for South Africa over the festive season, a period that consistently sees a spike in road deaths due to holiday travelling.
This is expected to form part of a comprehensive Festive Road Safety Strategy, which the Department of Transport shared with Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport on Tuesday.
Committee Chairperson Donald Selamolela welcomed the strategy, stating that it contained clear and necessary interventions.
“We really appreciate your efforts to save lives and the work that has gone into this strategy. We are all working in the interests of the country and protecting, not only the lives of our people, but even those leaving our borders,” Selamolela said.
“We share the sentiment that road safety is not only a government responsibility, but the community’s as well. It hurts when our people always come to identify bodies and await complex investigations with findings that are sometimes hardly communicated to the people,” he added.
Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa told the Committee that the sharp increase in road usage over the festive season demanded a targeted, data-driven and collaborative approach to road safety.
“The alarming statistics highlight the urgent need for stricter measures and a robust public education campaign to address this crisis head-on,” Hlengwa added.
He highlighted drunk driving and the use of cellphones while driving as particular areas of concern that would receive targeted attention by the campaign.
Upon launching the Festive Season Road Safety Campaign on November 17, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said the 46-day campaign, stretching from December 1 to mid-January, would see intensified law enforcement operations on all major routes.
“With traffic volumes expected to increase ahead of the Christmas and New Year’s long weekends, the campaign will be heightened especially in high-risk zones,” the Department said.
IOL