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Super traffic unit launched

A new national traffic police unit has been established, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said on Tuesday, March 29, 2011.

The ministry said 231 new traffic officers received special training over the past nine months and they would now make up the National Traffic Police Intervention Unit (NIU).

Ndebele said in a statement: "The situation at present is that our national road network is poorly policed because enforcement authorities are focusing on their network, occasionally venturing onto national roads. This unit will intensify the policing of our national network."

The minister added that NIU traffic officers have received training in advanced driving, communications, anti-corruption practices, first aid and incident management.

The unit would also be involved in joint operations with provincial traffic authorities, metro police, the SA Police Service, the Cross Border Road Transport Agency, military police and other agencies.

The announcement is said to be in line with South Africa's participation in the international 2011-2020 Decade of Action campaign to reduce road fatalities.

The ministry expected every province in South Africa to reduce road deaths by 50 percent by 2014.

Worldwide, an estimated 1.3 million people die on the roads and 50 million sustain injuries every year. In South Africa, 14 000 people die in road crashes annually.
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