The Emergency Management Service relaunched Rhodes Park Johannesburg traffic and security department’s Junior Training Centre on 26 November.
Public information, education and relations (Pier) officer, Deon Esau said the safety of children on the road is very important and that is one of the reasons they wanted to revive the centre and not allow it to become a white elephant. “Safety is very important to me and it’s my job. It has been my wish for a while to get the centre up and running and, with the help from South African Road Federation, the wish has come true,” he said.
The centre has a miniature road course with the day-to-day road signs found on the roads.
South African Road Federation, operations director Basil Jonsson said, “When Deon requested for help from us we were excited. Donating to such a centre will benefit the children as they will get to learn about road safety [and] at the same time be in a safe environment to ride their bicycles.”
The centre has been in existence for a number of years but has not been utilised. Because of that, it was vandalised. The building still needs some work but Esau said it will not prevent children from enjoying the centre.
Ward 66 councillor Carlos Da Rocha is very happy to see the centre open. “Rhodes Park has had a dark cloud for a while, but with such activities, I’m happy to see it being utilised to its full potential again. It’s not safe these days for children to ride a bicycle in the streets, now they come and ride them here in a safe environment and at the same time learn about road safety. I want to encourage the community to utilise the centre and get the children street smart.”
The federation donated 15 bicycles to the centre. Entrance will be free but works on a booking basis. Esau said they currently need some who will be based at the centre to look after the day-to-day running of the place.
“If there are retired Metro police who live in the area who would love to be part of the project, we invite them to join and assist in running the centre. We currently don’t have enough manpower,” said Esau. The centre is a perfect outing for a family fun day and with the holidays around the corner, it is the ideal place for children.
“It’s important to teach children from a young age about road safety in order for them to be safe on the road. Children get hit by cars while walking on their own or from school, so let’s use the centre to save them,” concluded Da Rocha.
Read: How not to get stuck in traffic
