The announcement made today by Transport Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande that 1,612 people died during the 2018/19 festive season yet again represents a catastrophic event in the history of South Africa. This is according to the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA).
JPSA chair, Howard Dembovsky, said he could not understand how the figure announced today had declined by around 200 over the road deaths announced by SABC radio on 28 December 2018.
“It is also hard to see how this festive season’s fatalities of 1,612 allegedly represents a “reduction of 7%” when the reported figure up to 9 January 2018 was 1,573,” Dembovsky said. “This represents a 2.5% increase in road fatalities over the same period last year and a fatality rate of 42 people per day.”
JPSA has said the RTMC continued to use unequal monitoring periods. In 2017/18, the monitoring period was 1 December to 15 January (46 days). In 2018/19 it was 1 December to 8 January (39 days). This means that the number of people killed per day on the roads over the Christmas period has risen from 36 last year to 42 this year. “We should not be satisfied about a 17% increase in the daily fatality rate,” Dembovsky commented.
JPSA said Nzimande’s announcement contained incorrect information about the role of bail, and again promoted the fiction that it is legally possible for serious road traffic offences to be re-classified to Schedule 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
JPSA referred to its previous statements on how the RTMC and Department of Transport has misinterpreted the Schedules of the Criminal Procedure Act, and specifically how no provision exists in that Act to detain anyone accused of any crime, no matter how serious, for “a minimum of 7 days” without being brought before a Court for a formal bail hearing.
“It is glaringly obvious that the RTMC, together with the Department and Minister of Transport continue to do the same things and expect different results,” Dembovsky said. “Most notably, it is clear that the RTMC lacks understanding or control of the road safety situation,” he concluded.