Pretoria - The Tshwane taxi industry will enforce road law compliance and encourage drivers to rest enough in an effort to save lives during the holiday season.
The regional spokesperson for the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco), McDonald Makata, said they expected holidaymakers to flock to taxi ranks from Monday.
He said that next Thursday would be very intense across all taxi ranks as many travellers would be looking to be at their holiday destinations by Friday, December 16.
Makata spoke to Pretoria News after a strategy meeting with the Tshwane Metro Police Department and the City of Tshwane which looked at how lives could be saved on the N1, N4, N3 and other major routes linking Tshwane to the rest of the country.
Yesterday, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula also launched the Festive Season Road Safety Arrive Alive Campaign.
Makata said Santaco president Abner Tsebe would be at the Bosman Station taxi rank on Monday morning to launch Operation Hlokomela (Be Careful) and to engage with taxi drivers entrusted to deliver passengers safely to their destinations this festive season.
“We are not naive. We know there are drivers who are chance takers and law breakers, and we want them to know that we will not be playing this festive season. Some drink and drive by saying ‘if I could just have one beer to boost me’, and that is wrong.
“We will be working closely with Road Traffic Management Corporation officials to ensure that drivers are tested for alcohol content. We will not tolerate any lawlessness. We cannot continue to have people dying on the roads in avoidable accidents.
“We have also engaged law enforcement, and we still call upon them to encourage our drivers to rest up when they look tired. We have agreed that our drivers should stop and take a break every 200km.
“The truth is, some of these drivers will be travelling very far. You can imagine driving from Pretoria to Musina in Limpopo. That is very far. One ought to rest. I’m sure the passengers would appreciate that kind of responsible driving.”
Makata said they would be giving drivers brand-new windscreen wipers to improve visibility when driving as rains are expected – and poor visibility can cause accidents and fatalities.
Launching the Arrive Alive road safety campaign, Mbalula said this was a period when families got together, schools closed and many workers were on Christmas break. Everyone partook in the festivities of the season.
He called it a time for people to relax, recharge and take a well- deserved break after a challenging year. He said it was also a period when many revellers took to the roads, having had one too many, while others conducted themselves recklessly, placing the lives of other road users at risk.
With migrant workers also expected to make their way home away from the cities where they earn a living, crossing provincial and national boundaries, congested roads were an expected reality.
“This places tremendous pressure on our roads and requires heightened law enforcement to ensure that every road user reaches their destination alive.
“This congestion across our national road network requires of the road users to exercise extreme caution and vigilance.
“Road crashes resulting in serious injuries and fatalities continue to pose a huge burden to our economy, with a loss of more than R188 billion annually. Historic trends demonstrate that the festive season is characterised by lawlessness on our roads.
“This is a consequence of those who conduct themselves in a manner that undermines the rights of others to use the shared road space. This is conduct that often results in the loss of life and limb on the roads.”
Mbalula called upon road users to remember that there was life beyond December.
“Beyond December, children must go to school, workers must get back to the task of enabling economic productivity and life’s ambitions must be fulfilled.”
The Road Traffic Management Corporation has packaged a comprehensive plan to tackle ill-discipline that drives fatalities on the roads.
“All traffic law enforcement authorities across spheres of government have committed themselves to aggressively tackle a list of priorities that include vehicle roadworthiness, pedestrian safety, public passenger transport, drunken-driving and speeding,” it said.
Pretoria News