Mpumalanga Province has identified ten learners who will represent the province at the National Road Safety Debates Completions for secondary schools at North West Province later this year. The competition will be held under the auspices of National Department of Transport and RTMC and all nine provinces are expected to participate.
The learners were identified over the weekend at Mpumalanga Traffic Training College in Mkhuhlu near Hazyview. The learners were winners in their respective regions, Bohlabela, Ehlanzeni, Gert Sibande and Nkangala. Each region was represented by five learners.
The learners on the day debated two motions: The effectiveness of the National Road Safety Strategy to deal with road crashes and the fragmentation of road safety efforts at different levels of government.
Those who agreed with the first motion felt that the strategy was sufficient to deal with the current road safety challenges. They believed that government was doing enough but the challenge was road users who were not coming to the party on road safety.
The learners contended that with harsher punishment of road offenders, follow up on outstanding traffic summonses and ongoing road safety education and enforcement, the strategy will be even more effective. They also insisted that with proper road safety engineering and ongoing evaluation would assist in ensuring that roads were safer.
However they felt that bribery and corruption at testing stations and failure to adequately punish road offenders were hindering progress with regard to the implementation of the road safety strategy.
They also argued that road safety planning should be more co-ordinated at local, provincial and national levels for optimal utilization of resources and increased impact.
Speaking on behalf of Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Pat Ngomane, MMC for Public Safety in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Ms. Lindiwe Sithole said that the debates were important as they show that learners have a role to play in road safety matters.
Ms. Sithole indicated all stakeholders should play their part because road safety is not only the responsibility of government but we all have a role to play. She said: “Such debates add much needed value to the work of the department in reducing road crashes.” She further applauded the participating learners and wished the ten learners who were going to the finals well.
She cited the death of three learners in Standerton recently saying that it was important that road safety become instilled in learners while they are still young. She also added that that driving schools should play their part as they contribute in producing new drivers.
Mpumalanga finalists are:
1. Innocent Mathebula (Gert Sibande Region)
2. Penuel Nkosi (Nkangala Region)
3. Lindiwe Ndlovu(Nkangala Region)
4. Mbali Mhlongo (Gert Sibande Region)
5. Vusi Msiza (Nkangala Region)
6. Bohlokwa Malahlela (Bohlabela Region)
7. Kopano Sehlabela (Bohlabela Region)
8. Njabulo Dlamini (Ehlanzeni Region)
9. Simphiwe Mahlangu Dlamini (Ehlanzeni Region)
10. Nolwazi Gama Dlamini (Ehlanzeni Region)
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