Motorists get checked

MIDRAND – Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga encouraged motorists to ensure their safety as well as the safety of other people on the roads.

Ofentse Ditlopo

January 17, 2022

Johannesburg Metro Police Department, South African Police Service, Gauteng Provincial Traffic and the South African National Traffic Police welcome Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga on the N1 South, Buccleuch Interchange for the Back-to-School Safety Campaign. Photo: Ofentse Ditlopo

Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga encouraged motorists to reduce the number of fatalities on the roads this year.

Nosicelo Pendu, provincial inspector of the Gauteng Traffic Police Department, issues a ticket for a motorist driving an unroadworthy car. Photo: Ofentse Ditlopo

Chikunga spoke at the Back-to-School Road-Safety Campaign which was held on the N1 South, Buccleuch Interchange in Midrand, on January 10.
This in light of schools soon opening and many motorists returning back home to Johannesburg or other areas with their children.

Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga joins the police’s parade to brief them on the Back- to-School Safety Campaign. Photo: Ofentse Ditlopo

The event, led by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), was also supported by the South African Police Service, Gauteng Provincial Traffic and the National Traffic Police.

JMPD spokesperson Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said that the event was about back-to-school safety as school was soon to commence.

Sergeant Sandile Bango from Sandton Police Station is happy after inspecting motorist Tshepo Nthijane’s vehicle and his driving documents on the N1 South highway as part of the Back-to-School Safety Campaign. Photo: Ofentse Ditlopo

He said that all officers on parade would be focused on the safety of children returning to school– and high on their agenda was scholar transports.

“The scholar transport vehicles must be safe and roadworthy for the transporting of children. The vehicles must have new tyres, lights must work, and drivers must be in fit condition to drive those public transport vehicles because we do not want any accidents nor death of any children starting school tomorrow,” said Minnaar.

Gauteng Traffic Police’s Jacqueline Malebjoe and Moitoi Mathipa along with Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s Mpho Malema control traffic before the roadblock on the highway. Photo: Ofentse Ditlopo

Chikunga added that road safety was a 24-hour, seven-days, 365 programme, therefore, as part of the ministry of transport, she pleads with South Africans to drive safely on the roads.

Superintendent Bongani Mavuso, head of the freeway unit of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, ushers cars in to get checked by other police members. Photo: Ofentse Ditlopo

Chikunga said that speeding was one of the common causes of fatalities on the roads. She said she personally, alongside the traffic police and police service, want to inculcate a culture of road safety and a culture that deepens the right for others to be safe in their right to life.

“If we keep that in our minds we will ensure that we are safe and also ensure the safety of others here on the roads.

“We also want to remind people that they should consider driving during the day where possible. Look at the prevailing circumstances – if the speed limit says 120kms but the circumstances can only allow you to travel at 40kms, please travel at 40kms to ensure your safety and that of other people on the road.”

Details: Johannesburg Metro Police Department 011 375 5911.

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https://www.citizen.co.za/midrand-reporter/298146/how-to-look-for-work-opportunities-safely/