543 000 people have been killed on SA roads
The first reported road crash in South Africa happened on the 1st of October 1903 near Cape Town. According to statistics, since that crash about 543 000 people have been killed in car crashes on South African roads. Now the minister of transport is urging to make South African roads safer to reduce carnage. “The rate of road traffic fatalities has reached an unacceptably high level,” said Dipuo Peters.
“As a country, we freely acknowledge that central to making our roads safer for our kids, is the exchange of policy perspectives and initiatives hence we wholeheartedly embrace this conference. We will draw from your collective wise counsel great ideas in harnessing efforts towards ensuring the safety of children on our roads,” the minister said in a speech prepared for delivery at the third Africa Road Safety Seminar in Cape Town.
“Public transport is featuring prominently in the modern economic trajectory of the fifth administration and it is indeed our responsibility to ensure that it is safe.” Peters said the department’s commitment included R580 million for administration and enforcement of road traffic legislation, over the period 2014/2015 to 2016/2017.
Speaking on public transport, Peters said that since 2006, 58 477 old taxis had been scrapped and R3.2 billion in scrapping allowances had been paid to taxi operators.
The transport department will also invest over R9.6 billion over the next three years to rehabilitate 1 100 km of roads and reseal 3 000 km of roads, as well as to re-gravel 3 150 km of roads and patch up about 810 000m² of potholes.