By Hlulani Mashaba
Johannesburg - The festive season is characterised by high demand for travelling for socio- economic reasons, pilgrimages and the transportation of goods from point of origin to various destinations.
The sharp increase in vehicular traffic on roads leading to other provinces and countries and increased travel time contributes towards driver fatigue. The situation is further made difficult by high presence of pedestrians on freeways, provincial roads and municipal roads, which, in turn, leads to crashes involving pedestrians and subsequent pedestrian mortalities. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable, with approximately over 40% of road fatalities emanating from this group.
The grim picture of the previous festive season road fatality statistics is worrying and a sad indictment of the total disregard for road safety rules and regulations. This blatant disregard for traffic rules and regulations have resulted in many losing their lives unceremoniously on Gauteng roads.
According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018, South African ranked a lowly 159 out of 175 countries in terms of total road deaths. This is a sad reality and a cause for concern. What is of significance is that most of the fatalities are caused as a result of human error or behaviour.
While we are in the heightened festive season period, there is a need to promote safer road usage. The Department of Community Safety is responsible in ensuring that all citizens in the province are and feel safe.
In pursuit of achieving the mandate, the Department continues to implement a number of very important legislation policies, including the Gauteng Safety Strategy (GSS). The strategy provides the law enforcement agencies in the province with the opportunity to align and integrate crime prevention and combating measures with traffic law enforcement interventions.
The Department, through the Road Safety Unit, will embark on several road safety awareness campaigns as part of the Safer Festive Season. These activities are aimed at changing the attitude and behaviour of road users.
The Gauteng Traffic Police will also be on the ground to ensure the reduction of fatalities through an integrated and coordinated approach with all stakeholders and continuously enforce the disaster management regulations, among others.
Due to the high number of road fatalities associated with the festive season, traffic law enforcement activities will be conducted to ensure a reduction in road fatalities. The Gauteng Traffic Police will conduct operations such as pedestrian operations, drunken driving operations, Visible patrolling, K78 roadblocks, Driver and Vehicle fitness operations, Speed law enforcement operations, Reckless and Negligent driving operations and Incident management, among others.
During the festive season period, certain categories of crime such as property crime and many more others increase drastically due to rampant abuse of alcohol and drugs. It is during this time that a high number of law enforcement officers are required to maintain strong visibility in identified crime hotspots and potential trouble spots.
Further, the Department will complement enforcement initiatives by the deployment of community patrollers at identified public transport hubs to provide help and support to the general travelling public.
As part of increasing visibility in crime hotspots and enhancing road safety in the province, the MEC for Community Safety, Ms Faith Mazibuko recently handed over the Gauteng Traffic Police with the high-performance vehicles fitted with cutting-edge crime-fighting technology. The handover follows the Gauteng Provincial Government’s commitment to direct additional resources to the law enforcement agencies in the fight against criminal activities in the province.
The law enforcement authorities will be on the ground to ensure a safer festive season. The mere availability of police in busy remote areas could deter criminals from pulling off their trade. Visible patrolling is critical and has been an essential part of policing routine to prevent lawlessness and enhance road safety. It is a given that criminality thrives in the absence of visible patrolling.
In the battle against all forms of crimes, there is a need for visible patrolling. The presence of law enforcement creates a sense of safety among citizens. Essentially, visible police presence is believed to allow greater police engagement across communication, with an expected outcome being a reduction in crime and promotion of road safety.
For purposes of achieving a common goal during this festive season period, which is the safety of the people of Gauteng and others, the Department of Community Safety through the Gauteng Law Enforcement Agency Forum (GLEAF) has managed to identify areas of collaboration and cooperation by all law enforcement agencies, including other key stakeholders to ensure heightened enforcement visibility and impact, in order to achieve a reduction in crime and road fatalities across the province.
Lastly, the festive season will be celebrated when the country is still in the midst of the fourth wave, which, therefore, calls upon all of us to ensure maximum compliance to the Covid-19 regulations as well as follow the safety protocols to minimise the spread of the virus. Various vaccination sites have been set on some of the identified roadblocks within the province. We encourage road users to take time to vaccinate in order to flatten the curve of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mashaba is Deputy Director: Media Relations, Gauteng Department of Community Safety/