The face behind ‘Road Angels’
To many, it may sound like a laid-back job, but in actual fact, this is a very time-consuming, selfless act Marlize took on
It’s not always only the ‘men/women in uniform’ who wear angel wings when they attend to emergencies. Vryheid has its own ‘angel’ who made it her mission to assist these first responders where she can. One day, traffic information WhatsApp and Facebook groups just appeared, giving updates on traffic congestion and accidents in and around Vryheid. Then another WhatsApp group popped up and it was no longer just local information, but an update group informing motorists about traffic in the whole of KwaZulu-Natal. Marlize Harmse is now a ‘household’ name when it comes to traffic… But who is this woman behind these famous ‘Road Angels’ groups. Last week, Marlize and some of the local emergency services celebrated her two-year anniversary.
‘Road Angels’ was just a small, 40-member WhatsApp group named ‘Marlize Traffic Updates’. During the riots and the floods of 2021, the group started to grow. “I take pride in accurate, current and precise information when reporting. I joined hands with first responders throughout KZN by assisting in dispatching services when my members needed help during the floods,” Marlize explains.
On August 24, 2021, she took the new group name ‘Road Angels’ and went national with it. And so ‘Road Angels Traffic Info’ was officially born. Today, the group is just over 100,000 members strong over numerous platforms. They share information free on various social media platforms (over 39), since she feels it is the right of every road-user to have fair, free and available info, with no hidden agendas or subscriptions.
The reason behind the initiation of the traffic groups:
In December 2020, Marlize lost someone very dear to her in a horrific accident on the N3 (Marrianhill to be specific). Information about the accident was little-to-none due to the nature of the crash. She found ways to get the information she so desperately needed, and even proof of the accident (footage, etc).
Marlize understood traffic and the importance of proper pre-warnings about obstructions / dangers on the road, as well as the right of every road-user to receive such information. This kept her awake for many nights and to top it all, her eldest daughter had just received her driver’s licence, so any parent would be concerned and wonder how they could help out on the roads.
By joining hands with first responders throughout KZN during the floods and riots, this built a strong relationship to continue her work with the groups.
There is no financial gain for her behind-the-scenes heroic job. But due to the bigger picture and the exciting plans she has with ‘Road Angels’ going forward, it will be self-sustaining soon. “I have had a few sponsorships that assist me to do what I do daily to help cover the load-shedding factor, airtime and data when I couldn’t be on Wi-Fi. It is due to them that I feel I’m on the right path with this journey.
“Doing this for nine to 10 hours daily and being on call for any assistance 24/7 does get to a person, but the support of my husband, family and friends and the daily reminder of why I’m doing this is what keeps me going. I might not be able to save everyone, but I do make a change in some of the lives on my groups.
“Awareness is the key; every message I send out prevents secondary accidents and can prevent road-users from getting stuck at protest actions. It even assists in fleet management and damage due to looting at accidents and protesting. I have various emergency responders on all my groups and they dispatch services in their areas, where needed, to limit the time factor.”
To many, it may sound like a laid-back job, but in actual fact, this is a very time-consuming, selfless act Marlize took on. “You need to network well to receive alerts and information. You need to be passionate about what you’re doing and have a strong personality to witness carnage on the roads.”
Obviously taking on a task like this has its challenges. To name one, specifically, is the wear-and-tear on her cellphone. Marlize receives between 8000 and 12,000 messages daily and she is already on her fourth cellphone since she started two years ago. She verifies all the information before she posts it. Sadly, load-shedding has a major effect, since several office landlines don’t work at different times across South Africa.
“I’m extremely humbled to be working directly with first responders, officials and road agencies across South Africa. As the private sector, it’s not always easy to be involved, but I’m not here to make more work for anyone, but rather to lend a hand in assisting all sectors,” she concluded.
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The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.
