President to give keynote address during launch of Transport Month campaign

The President will be joined by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, Provincial MECs of Roads, Transport, Police, Community Safety and Public Works and senior government officials.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Saturday officially launch the October Transport Month campaign and the revamped Arrive Alive programme, as approved by Cabinet.

“In commemorating the many lives lost on the country’s roads, the President and the Minister will unveil a memorial plaque on the N3 Weighbridge and reveal a new logo of the Arrive Alive programme underpinning the 365 Days Road Safety Action Agenda,” the Department of Transport said.

The President will be joined by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, Provincial MECs of Roads, Transport, Police, Community Safety and Public Works and senior government officials.

“The President will give a keynote address during the official launch of the October Transport Month campaign to be attended by a contingent of traffic and law enforcement officers from all the provinces, and key stakeholders including the private sector, transport industry, motorcycling association, the religious and interfaith fraternity and family members of those who lost their lives to road crashes,” the department said.

President Ramaphosa signed into law the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act on 13 August, paving the way for a new regime in driver and road user behavior for the country.

“At its full implementation, the AARTO Act will discourage bad and persuade good road user and road traffic behavior by providing a scheme for road traffic contraventions and facilitate the adjudication of road traffic infringements,” the department said.

The department said South Africa’s Road Safety Action Agenda will mainstream road safety interventions into the daily activities of transport authorities, cultivate round the clock traffic law enforcement and discourage unsafe road user behavior.

“The spate of road deaths in South Africa continues to account for untold suffering for families, friends and loved ones in the loss of their beloved, unmistakably at a huge cost to the economy - some R166 billion at minimum.

“Last Friday, seven innocent lives were cut short resulting from a horrific multi-vehicle crash near the Pumulani Toll Plaza on the N1 freeway in the Hammanskraal area. Many other such crashes have claimed scores of lives on the country’s roads,” the department said. 

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)