Mbalula’s ‘hoot for life’ is illegal

Even by the theatre of the absurd standards by which Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula conducts himself, his grandiose plan to “hoot for life” is not only bizarre, it is illegal, too.

The minister wants drivers around the country to sound their hooters every midday in the name of road safety – and may, in doing so, cause injuries or death, through people being distracted or alarmed.

It is incomprehensible that a government minister can propose and encourage the breaking of a law which he is duty-bound to enforce.

If he claims ignorance – and his public statements on many matters would seem to indicate he waltzes around in a perpetual fog of not knowing his left from his right – that is even worse, because it confirms incompetence of the highest order.

If the minister did not know it, regulation 310 (a) of the Road Traffic Act states: “No person on a public road shall use the sounding device or hooter of a vehicle except when such use is necessary to comply with the provisions of these regulations or on the grounds of safety.”

His latest idiocy follows comments in public last week when he was ostensibly urging people not to drink and drive. He said that people could continue to go to “nightclubs” but should not drive home.

As a member of Cabinet, he should know that nightclubs are still banned in terms of the Covid lockdown restrictions.

All this while South Africans will continue to die in their hundreds on our roads this festive season.

Because the Covid restrictions have caused many to cancel their beach holidays this year, there may well be less traffic on the roads, which means less deaths.

If you were a betting person, you would put money on Mbalula trying to claim credit for this.

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