THE 14% increase in road fatalities during the 2021/2022 holiday season compared to the 2020/2021 holiday season is shocking and concerning, indicating the need for immediate action rather than promises of change, said the Automobile Association (AA).
The AA said the horrific figures released by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday, 18 January will not be dealt with effectively unless real, effective amendments are made to current road safety practices.
The association said the fact that 1 685 people died on the country’s roads in the short period from 1 December 2021 to 11 January 2022 indicates that current approaches are simply ineffective.
“Unless the urgent intervention focuses on road safety education, more extensive traffic law enforcement and better prosecution of offenders, these numbers will not reduce. Also, focusing on single aspects of road safety such as drunk driving while ignoring others such as pedestrian safety will not result in significant reductions in road fatalities,” said the AA.
The association said considering the figures, South Africa is far from achieving international targets it agreed to at the third Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden earlier in 2020.
At that conference, South Africa committed itself to the international target of reducing road fatalities by half by 2030 as part of the worldwide 50BY30 campaign.
The association said given the country’s current road safety framework, which consistently blames human error as the leading cause of crashes and road deaths, these targets will remain unattainable.
The AA said it is perplexed at Mbalula’s remarks that: “We have just concluded one of the most challenging festive season campaigns, which stretched our resources to the limit, putting a strain on our law enforcement operations.”
The AA said: “The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), the lead agency responsible for road safety in South Africa, had a surplus of more than R260 million in its 2020 financial year. This raises serious questions about the allocation of funds to promote road safety and the minister’s claim that resources are being stretched to the limit.”
The AA said it also notes the minister’s remarks that the Department of Transport will be appealing the ruling by the Pretoria High Court last week that the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto), and its amendments, are unconstitutional.
