Torch of peace to promote road safety

The minister of transport, Ben Martins last week handed over the Torch of Peace from his department to the minister of basic education department Angie Motshekga in Boksburg, Gauteng.

The Torch of Peace has evolved to represent a gathering point for the creation of a more caring, compassionate and safer country.

Martins said all citizens share the responsibility to create an environment in which everyone can enjoy their right to safety and security as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

“Over the past few years, the Torch of Peace has become a symbol of South Africa’s national campaign to combat violence against women and children and the improvement of safety at schools and on the national roads,” said Martins.

Martins said the department of transport reiterates its commitment to participate actively in partnership with the department of basic education and other government departments in pursuit of this collective task of improving road safety.

He said the partnership between the two departments aims to create road safety awareness in schools and encourage children to make a positive contribution to the road safety campaign.

According to Martins, the department is targeting children to act as road safety ambassadors. He said children should be empowered to take responsibility for their own safety when walking, playing or when they are passengers.

“Statistics show that many children die on the road because they do not buckle up, road fatalities have profound social and economic consequences as they result in the loss of loved ones and in some cases, fatalities leave children orphaned or disabled,” said Martins.

Martins said the collaboration between the departments of basic education and department of Transport will assist young people to obtain valid learners and drivers’ licenses. This will help young people to be employable, as many jobs require one to have a driving license.

He said the programme will reduce the number of people driving without valid licenses and also reduce corruption in the department. Desperate job-seekers often pay bribes to obtain driving licenses.
Road fatalities cost the country R306-billion per annum.

“The law enforcement alone cannot address the problem, it is not possible for law enforcement officers to be deployed on each and every street or corner, all South Africans should support and co-operate with the department for us to achieve the goal to reduce road fatalities by half in 2020,” said Martins.

The two departments also hold annual road safety debating competition in all nine provinces.

“Children are not only recipients of information they can also contribute in ideas as they are informed by their daily experiences,” said the minister.

Martins called on the private sector partners to continue supporting the road safety campaign and other government endeavors aimed at creating a better life for all South Africans.