A highly successful community programme to promote pedestrian safety at three Mpumalanga schools surprised those involved when, as an added bonus, it improved discipline in general and reduced aggression amongst learners at the schools.
Anita Heyl, spokesperson of Trans African Concessions (TRAC), the company responsible for the management and operation of the N4 toll route, and main sponsor of the Asiphephe “Let’s be Safe” pilot project, says the results exceeded all expectations.
“Although the project is primarily aimed at the improvement of pedestrian safety, basic life skills were also taught. The aim was to help learners make safer choices in general,” she says.
Almost 50% of all fatalities on South African roads are pedestrian fatalities. Furthermore, according to the 7th Annual Road Safety Africa Summit, 32% of all child fatalities in South Africa are due to road traffic accidents.
As its commitment to the provision of a safe route, TRAC analyses all accidents on the N4 and identifies high traffic zones along the route.
Communities around the Ngodwana-Elandshoek area have limited access to transport and school children often have to traverse the highway to go about their lives. In this area, children daily walk up to 2.5km along the N4 toll route.
“Pedestrian communities are very vulnerable in high traffic zones. These conditions called for an intervention to improve overall community safety,” explains Heyl.
A pilot pedestrian safety was initiated by TRAC for this particular area and developed in association with engineering group, Aurecon.
Aurecon is well-known for its extensive experience in designing, coordinating and implementing community-based projects, and was awarded project design, management and community consultation of TRAC’s very first Community Pedestrian Safety Pilot Project (CPSPP). Following the submission of its plan, Aurecon decided to help fund the cost of implementation. “We wholeheartedly believe in the importance of this project’s success, and its ability to make a real and lasting difference from a national perspective, if implemented throughout the country. This led us to allocate a portion of our CSI budget to help fund it,” explains Tutu Mpungose, the driving force behind the company’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme.
The pilot project was rolled out at three schools and received keen support from various other stakeholders. A steering committee (consisting of representatives from TRAC/Aurecon, paper producer Sappi, S.A. Police Services of Ngodwana, Mpumalanga Traffic Department, the three school principals and other interested parties) helped to drive the successful programme.
The schools involved were Clivia and Riverside Primary Schools and Entabamhlope Combined School. A total of 700 learners followed the programme.
Before the programme was rolled out in the local schools, eleven local young community leaders were trained as community pedestrian officers (CPO) according to a specially drafted training module. Three CPOs were recruited to work with the educators, parents and learners in a specific school, and to oversee the roll-out and implementation of the pedestrian safety programme.
Not only was the road safety message instilled into the learners, they were also encouraged to write and perform songs and dramas to give creative expression to what they learned.
The success of the project at each school will be judged on Thursday 19 July 2012 and the pilot project will culminate in the prize giving ceremonies at Riverside (09:00) and Entabamhlope Schools (12:00) on Friday 20 July 2012. The songs and dramas created by the learners will be performed at these events.
Following the pilot project the officers will continue to maintain safety standards at these schools and train more learners, while the programme will now be replicated in another community elsewhere along the N4 toll route.
Principals at the participating schools have reported a definite improvement in pedestrian safety at the participating schools, an observation echoed by a bus company serving one of the schools.
Besides, the principals noted a marked betterment in the general discipline and a reduction in the level of aggressiveness at these schools. They credit it to the fact that the programme teaches learners their own value, creating self respect and eventually respect to others as well.
For emergencies or assistance along the N4 toll route, contact the TRAC N4 Helpdesk – 24/7:
0800 8722 64
082 881 4444
