Although the carnage on South African roads have increased over Easter, it is reported that Gauteng had the lowest fatal accidents.
Figures released by the government shows this year’s death toll of 287 lives lost during Easter, which represents a 48% increase over the 2014 period, bears stark testimony to the fact that South Africa’s road carnage is, instead of declining as is repeatedly claimed by the Department of Transport, rising at an alarming rate. This figure of course is a preliminary death toll which does not take into account those who were critically injured and may die in hospital as a result of their injuries.
Justice Project South Africa’s (JPSA) chairperson Howard Dembovsky has suggested the following measures to curb fatalities.
• An urgent review of the antiquated K53 licensing model which is producing a high number of incompetent drivers;
• An urgent transformation in the purpose of Professional Driving Permits (PrDP) for public transport drivers which is currently nothing more than a revenue generation tool;
• The urgent eradication of the widespread systemic corruption in both, licensing and traffic law enforcement;
•A countrywide transformation in the focus on revenue generation which has become the sole driving force throughout traffic law enforcement authorities and the municipalities they fall under to effective, visible and corruption-free traffic law enforcement; and
•The nationwide roll-out of a points-demerit system.
Various political parties such as Cope have also criticized the increase.
