ALLEGATIONS MADE AGAINST THE NATIONAL TRAFFIC POLICE UNIT

Recent media reports regarding the National Traffic Police Unit and particularly comments made by the Western Cape MEC of Transport Mr. Robin Carlisle have been inaccurate and misleading. The RTMC would like to take this opportunity of correcting the misconceptions on record.

Appointment of the CEO

The Acting CEO, Mr. Collins Letsoalo, was appointed by the Minister of Transport in February 2010 in order to allow the investigative processes that were pertaining to the management of the time to unfold. In this regard, the Shareholders' Committee ratified the decision in accordance with the powers vested in them. The matter pertaining to the disciplinary issue that is before the court where the appointment of the Acting CEO is called to question has resulted in the leave to appeal the judgment being granted. Since this matter has not been finalized, it does not render the appointment of the CEO as illegal and we are confident that the court will find in our favour.

The Western Cape as a Shareholders' Committee member represented by the MEC has been a party to the decisions of the Committee including the appointment of the Acting CEO. The Acting CEO of the RTMC has executed decisions in line with the powers vested in him, which are in line with the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 as amended, the Road Traffic Management Act, Public Finance Management Act and as empowered by the Shareholders' Committee. These decisions have included the formation of the National Traffic Police.

The Corporation also takes this opportunity to announce the finality of the matter between the Corporation and the former CEO; Mr. Ranthoko Rakgoale. The matter was concluded and with effect from 1 December 2011, when we mutually agreed to terminate the employment relationship. The terms of the settlement agreement remain confidential as per the agreement. However, all matters pertaining to the civil and criminal charges will still continue.

Formation of the National Traffic Police

The formation of the National Traffic Police was resolved by the RTMC Shareholders' Committee. This committee comprises of the Minister of Transport as the Chairperson and the MECs responsible for transport who have full voting rights in accordance with the Road Traffic Management Act.

The National Traffic Police (NTP) as appointed by the Acting CEO of the RTMC in accordance with section 3A of the National Road Traffic Act and 18(1)(a) and Section 20(1) of the RTMC Act is a duly operational traffic police force with National Jurisdiction and peace officers in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).

The objectives and mandate of the NTP is to operate as an interventionist unit in support of local and provincial traffic authorities with a view to stabilize hotspots and hazardous locations. The focus would also include stamping out of corruption in the fraternity as well transport operator environment. It was further informed by the shortage of traffic officers in the country and this unit is adding additional capacity to the traffic fraternity.

Training

The 240 trainee officers underwent the prescribed national six months compulsory traffic officer training at recognized traffic colleges. The pass-out parade was held in March 2011 where the officers received their diplomas, which are in line with the standards as set by the RTMC as an entity responsible for the standards of traffic officer training in the country.

The mandatory six months training was augmented by an additional three months training. This included defensive driver-training, use of high technology equipment, incident management, anti-corruption, effective communication, first aid, state protocol and dealing with persons with diplomatic immunity. The officers have also undergone training in Accident Investigation and specialized tactical training offered by the SAPS.

On the job and field training for the unit members was conducted in conjunction with Tshwane Metro Police. They have not only met, but exceeded the minimum requirements of any traffic officers' training in any jurisdiction in the country. We reiterate that in terms of the section 18(1)(b) of the RTMC Act we are responsible for training of traffic personnel including the officers that are appointed by the Western Cape, including setting of training standards, accreditation of colleges, monitoring and evaluation.

Appointment of officers in the NTP

After their initial training a further criminal record screening process was performed. Those learners who were found to have had criminal records were not appointed based on the information received from the SAPS. Their application to be appointed as peace officers was further validated by SAPS provincial head office.

Thirty-six highly experienced Assistant Superintendents from other agencies were appointed as supervisors during August - September 2011. They were also vetted through SAPS, using the same process used by other authorities, as stated above. They underwent additional refresher training under the RTMC.

NTP Resources

It is a common cause that any agency is always in need of additional resources. Being a unit that is less than ten months old, resources are limited, however, every effort is made to ensure that these are utilized optimally. There are twenty-four marked vehicles supplemented by eight pool vehicles.

Concluding remarks

The RTMC is alarmed by the Western Cape MEC of Transport's remarks that the NTP will be prevented from operating in the province. It must be reminded that South Africa is not a federal state; as a unitary state we need to work in harmony. The RTMC enjoys a good working relationship with all provinces including the Western Cape Provincial Traffic Services that, incidentally, does not even report to him.

The Western Cape like all the other provinces uses the services of the cooperation in the execution of their mandate; these include statistical data crash investigation reports, the National Rolling Enforcement Plan as well as other flagship projects that are still in the process of finalizations within the areas of enforcement, education and engineering.

The RTMC will continue to work in support of and in co-operation with all provincial and other relevant government departments in order to find a permanent solution to the road carnage, which affects us all.

No amount of bickering and internal politics will save the lives of our people. We have to work towards reducing the carnage on our roads. We, therefore call for calm and focus on our mandates, which South Africans have entrusted in us.

Statement issued by Ashref Ismail, The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), December 22 2011

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter