Provincial MEC for Community Safety Lennit Max has warned that his department will keep a close eye on motorists, as the city heads into the festive season. The department in partnership with the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works has launched its “Safe Home” campaign, aimed at improving road safety in the province.
The MEC was addressing law enforcement officers during a wreath-laying service in Brackenfell on Sunday, aimed at commemorating officers lost in service. Max said law enforcement members have paid the highest price in defending one specific constitutional right of all citizens – “to live, work and play in a safer society.”
“We need to ask the question – what can we learn from the death of a fellow law enforcement member or citizen. What can we make of the dream of that person that was being pursued? Though we will never get accustomed to death, we must grow accustomed to the fact that the work done and the fertile ideas of the fallen should live on in those staying behind,” he told the gathering.
Safety of cops
In December 2008, seven Western Cape police officers were killed during service. Between 1999 and 2009, 36 traffic officers died during service. The MEC said government continues to monitor and identify ways to improve the working conditions of all its law enforcement officers. The challenges of raising the standard across the board will be addressed with vigour and determination, he said.
Traffic operations have already begun in the province. Max said he is satisfied with the fact that 29 drunken motorists were arrested while driving on the N2 highway this past weekend. The MEC has compared drunken motorists to “potential murderers.”
Cost
Traffic accidents cost South Africa almost R43 million annually. Currently, the national fatality figures are on 5248 and road fatalities in the Western Cape average 1500 per annum. In the Western Cape between April 2008 and March 2009, 2346 people were murdered in the context of a national murder rate of 18 833.
“The road carnage in the Western Cape needs to be reduced and the departments plan is to decrease road fatalities by 20% by the year 2014. Road accidents costs the government R43 million and safety on roads must be improved,” he said.
Max said the department has initiated an integrated plan to ensure the safety of all road-users. However, he said the department will not compromise the safety of police officers in the pursuit of safety. He called on the public to assist the department by keeping the province’s roads safe.
“Let us all commit ourselves to take up the many challenges that lie before us, in making this beautiful Western Cape a safer place for all its citizens.”
[Appeared in The Voice of the Cape, by Tasneem Mohamed]