MBOMBELA – The recent Road Safety Youth Summit’s gala dinner hosted by the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison was hijacked by local politicians.
Local ANC Youth League members caused chaos at the Casambo Exclusive Guest Lodge by singing struggle songs and interrupting speakers. Organisers had to call them to order and removed the people.
The summit was hosted by the department in partnership with the National Department of Transport and the Road Traffic Management Corporation. Eight members were elected to be part of the national road safety youth committee.
About 200 delegates from all four regions of the province were invited to attend the two-day provincial summit.
Among other activities, they were divided into commissions to discuss solutions of dealing with road crashes.
Although the event was organised to include a variety of youth leaders, it seemed that most, if not all, the attendants were ANC members. They sat in groups singing struggle songs.
The department’s spokesman, Mr Joseph Mabuza, said it was unfortunate that a certain group would take advantage of a programme that was centred around solving issues concerning road safety.
“The youths were invited through the national youth summit, so we did not have much power to select who and who not to attend,” he said.
Mabuza added that some of the youth decided to wear clothes that had their political party’s regalia and added that the department condemned the behaviour played out by the members.
The purpose of the summit from May 20 to 21 was to allow the youth of the province to participate in road-safety initiatives and also contribute towards the national road-safety strategy aimed at reducing vehicle accidents.
The delegates also pleaded with government to make drag racing an official sport to prevent accidents as a result of racing on public roads. They also asked the government to consider making advanced driving compulsory to every licence holder to improve their defensive skills.
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