Following the election of the ANC for its sixth term in office, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced his new cabinet. Fikile Mbalula has replaced Dr Blade Nzimande as the Minister of Transport, who assumed this role in February 2018.
During that time, Nzimande saw both an increase in the December road fatalities and a decrease in the statistics over Easter. The managing director of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says the latest reduction in road fatalities is one that needs to be continued as Mbalula takes over his new role.
He said: "Following the disappointing rise in fatalities in December 2018, Nzimande said that the government needs to continue taking incremental steps to see a reduction in fatalities in 2019".
Image: Motorpress
Following the drop in Easter fatalities, these steps could be heading in this direction.
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He said: "Now, with Mbalula at the helm, we hope to continue seeing these steps in the right direction. South Africa committed to the United Nation’s Decade of Road Safety with the goal of reducing the number of fatalities on the roads by half. This means that by next year the fatality rate is supposed to be no more than 7 000.
"While this may seem impossible now, let us not stray in our efforts to achieve it. Even if we miss the deadline, it does not make this target any less important. Creating safer roads in South Africa needs continual commitment and focus. Once the Decade of Action ends, whether we meet our targets or not, reducing the fatality rate needs to be a never-ending effort".
Image: Motorpress
"We must assess why we have not seen an improvement at the expected rate and adjust our approach where necessary. We can also look at international successes, in countries similar to ours, in reducing their fatalities during the decade and learn from their example.
"MasterDrive wishes to congratulate Mbalula on taking over this pivotal role in the South African Cabinet. With buy-in from South African citizens, businesses and government, we can still see the change we were hoping to achieve by 2020," says Herbert.