DA welcomes 46% decrease in Easter weekend road deaths 

29 March 2016

The DA welcomes the 46% (287 to 156) year-on-year decrease of road deaths for the Easter Weekend period as compared to the same period for 2015. The DA furthermore thanks motorists and traffic law enforcement alike for their efforts in this holiday season to reduce the carnage on our roads and ensure that South Africa’s roads are safer than in previous years.

Going forward, the true test will be for Minister Peters and her department to sustain the decrease of road deaths, as previous cases have shown that the number of road deaths remains extremely high in periods surrounding holidays. Even one death on our roads is a death too many and this needs to be the Department of Transport’s apex priority.

To this end, we call upon Department of Transport (DoT) Minister, Dipuo Peters, to ensure there is a constant decrease in the rate of road deaths, not only for the Easter holidays period but all subsequent periods where we have seen thousands of lives lost on our roads across the country.

Furthermore we urge Minister Peters to remain steadfast in ensuring that the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), enforces road safety and adherence to the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA). 

Minister Peters noted in today’s Easter weekend report that 913 motorists (up from 820) were arrested for drunken driving, an 11% increase in comparison to 2015; for instances of speeding arrests the figures increased from 58 in 2015 to 508 in 2016, an astronomical increase of over 700%. It is clear that our motorists need more than just billboard advertisements in order to adhere to the prescripts of NRTA. Minister Peters in concert with all stakeholders has to commission a more prohibitive and visible campaign, especially when considering that such a large number of instances were recorded in a short five day period.

We need more visibility of traffic officers as well as routine road-blocks to curtail drunk driving and speeding. The responsibility falls upon the RTMC to continue its clampdown on drinking and driving, we will be ensuring that pressure is continued by Minister Peters and her department.

The DA will continue to do whatever we can to hold the Department of Transport to account, so that continued road fatality reduction becomes the norm, not the exception.

Issued by Manny de Freitas, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, 29 March 2016