CSIR, Pretoria, 25 October 1999
Master of Ceremonies
Distinguished Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen
I consider it a privilege to make opening remarks at this important conference entitled "The Third International Conference on Accident Investigation, Reconstruction and Interpretation of the Law. I thank the organisers for the invitation and wish you a successful conference.
The conference is co-hosted by the CSIR and my department - the department of transport. The conference and the agenda items including the overall theme of the conference - are not just of academic or theoretical interest.
The three inter-related themes are of immediate relevance for us because of the problems which we are grappling with in relation to accidents and our determination to solve those problems.
Over the past three months I have made it very clear that for the South African government - and indeed the South African people - the issue of road safety, together with safety in relation to air travel, sea travel and rail travel are matters of the highest importance and must receive priority attention. Accordingly at meetings between myself as national minister and the nine provincial ministers we have given and continue to give high focus to our arrive alive campaign. We have unanimously agreed that the fragmented law enforcement system which we inherited is wholly inadequate and that for this reason, inter alia, law enforcement is poor. As a result of this and also because drivers constantly violate rules, there is weak law compliance. The gamble that many drivers take pays off (for them) because most often they do get away with parking offences, speeding offences, other driving offences including negligent or reckless driving. Bad driving, bad driving habits and behaviour, unroadworthy vehicles and sometimes poor pedestrian behaviour have contributed to terrible accidents, loss of life and damage.
I am absolutely determined to tackle the problem of road accidents head-on. If poor law enforcement is a major cause, then we must radically change the system to promote better law enforcement. It is for this reason that government has worked tirelessly to create the road traffic management corporation through legislation. All three tiers of government will participate in the corporation so as to ensure a rational and effective system of road traffic management.
We are also implementing legislation to make provision for the administrative adjudication of road traffic offences. The effect will be to relieve the burden on courts having to deal with thousands of lesser traffic offences. The new system will be effective and efficient. Motor car drivers and owners will ignore ticketed fines at their peril. Their motor vehicle licences may not be renewed without all fines having been paid. But there will be more serious consequences as we phase in the demerit points system. Persistent violators will face suspension of their driving licences. Courts will be able to concentrate on the more serious driving offences. As we improve law enforcement, we will find a culture of greater law compliance beginning to develop.
The new systems will take time to phase in but our vision over the next five years is to replace the current inefficient, law-transgressor - friendly and fragmented system with a new uniform, efficient and predictable system of law enforcement.
One of the essential requirements for effective law enforcement is the capacity to conduct accurate and reliable accident investigation, the capacity to reconstruct an accident and our ability to deal adequately with law related issues, including interpretation. These are the subject matters which you have been exploring and will be looking at during this conference.
It is for this reason that I am saying that your deliberations are of immense practical importance.
I am very much aware of the fact that safety on our roads requires more - much more - than law compliance and law enforcement. Reliable investigation and accurate reconstruction are also extremely valuable to identify weaknesses in the system, in roads, in vehicles and human behaviour. On the basis of information obtained and conclusions arrived at, steps can be taken which in their totality will help to improve and guarantee safety on our roads.
This conference takes place at an opportune moment in our country. Recently we witnessed the unfortunate spate of crashes involving our public passenger transport. Such has been the focus on our accidents, for example, that even where the cause of the accidents clearly appeared to be other vehicles, the mere involvement of a bus - even an innocent one - led to perceptions very unfavourable towards bus operators. In one instance, a truck went into the back of a stationary bus and the media screamed "another bus accident". I am not complaining about the media. I am saying that bus accidents and public passenger transport vehicle accidents are very serious matters. Commuters and others must enjoy maximum legal protection.
Bus owners and drivers are in law bound to ensure that vehicles are roadworthy, drivers are trained, that they drive properly, that they observe the rules of the road and take appropriate steps to avoid accidents.
The recent spate of bus accidents provide a backdrop to your conference and highlights the need for South African government, law enforcement authorities, vehicle owners, drivers and all other stakeholders, including a vigilant public to learn appropriate lessons and to act decisively to reduce the carnage on our roads. I am not asking for panic-driven actions. There is no need to panic, but there is need to implement short term, medium term and long term measures.
The seriousness of the issue of road safety cannot be overstated. In South Africa, an average of 10,000 people are killed in road related accidents annually. About 250,000 are injured annually. The cost to the economy is estimated at r10 billion per annum. No country in the world can afford such loss of human life, such human misery and such loss.
In addition to human loss and suffering, hospitalization costs, emergency related costs, recovery, costs and loss of productivity are astronomical. Too many children are orphaned. Too many men and women are widowed. As government we are determined to stop the carnage. The point is that most accidents can be avoided.
Our problem is compounded by the fact that in addition to the fragmented road traffic management system and poor law enforcement, we also carry the burden of the legacy of apartheid in the form of a neglected road infrastructure for the majority of our people and an inadequate traffic safety education in all communities, especially those historically disadvantaged. These are matters currently receiving attention. The re-demarcation of local authority boundaries, the scrapping of the apartheid boundaries and the establishment of transport authorities on a rational basis will help to address these problems.
It is one of our realities that the policies of apartheid moved the voteless and rightless millions away from job opportunities and access to essentials. Hence even today, South Africa remains a highly racialized society with millions of black and coloured poor forced to travel long distances to and from their places of employment and commercial centres. For example you have to travel at least 34km north west of Pretoria to get to Soshanguve. It is during these long trips that many accidents occur and many die.
Clearly we must deal with this legacy of apartheid. How we do so is perhaps not relevant to the present conference.
Let me return to road safety.
For two years now, the department of transport and other roleplayers have been enthusiastically involved in promoting the arrive alive road safety campaign, which in effect, for the first time saw the injection of large sums of money in road traffic management within a short period of time. More than r150 million has been spent so far on:
All this is being done with a view to bringing back a culture of law compliance which is embedded in our society as a result of apartheid. As indicated the government has prioritized law enforcement but the chain of events is not complete unless we have proper accident investigation and reconstruction where needed. This will increasingly assist us in being pro-active rather than re- active.
In addition to the Arrive Alive Campaign, which is basically an aggressive co- ordinated law enforcement and road safety communication campaign, other strategies to reduce road accidents include:
Having strategised around the road ahead for effective and professional road traffic management, accident investigation in South Africa is an area that needs more attention and input from other countries with expertise and capacity. I also note with concern the lack of sufficient capacity especially amongst blacks in South Africa. In total, there are less than ten scientific accident investigators in the country. This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.
All accident crime investigations are done by South African police services and I believe there are very few experts with the necessary knowledge to ensure that all processes and recordings are accurately and timeously completed during the investigation process. In many cases poor investigation contributes to delays in finalisation of claims which sometimes take up to three years to complete.
As a result thereof, cost of claims are unnecessarily increased and the prosecution of criminal cases that are brought before our justice system are not very successful. Perpetrators are allowed to walk away with murder.
South Africa certainly lacks accident investigation and reconstruction capacity. It is for this reason that I am pleased that such a conference is held in South Africa. I believe, the hosting of this conference, will now pave the way for more attention in the respective fields of accident investigation and reconstruction.
I am made to understand that the capacity building exercise has already begun with a number of you or your organisations already having the opportunity to attend a training program in accident investigation which commenced two weeks ago and which was presented by some of your colleagues from Australia.
I also understand that a limited number - only of 40 delegates - could be accommodated, but the response for registrations was overwhelming. My department will investigate the need to co-ordinate similar courses in the future. It is clear that government alone does not have the necessary capacity to design and implement the required training programs, therefore we will in partnership with our overseas friends and local private interests endeavour to empower our people in this field.
I take this opportunity in wishing those who have successfully completed the accident investigation training course every success and I am certain that the knowledge acquired will now assist the country to investigate accidents with a view of advising government on what corrective measures need to be taken.
With regard to our vehicle crash worthiness, I am pleased to inform you that we conform to a tight vehicle manufacturing process, we have adapted standards from most international best practices in addition to some standards generated on our own. The South African bureau of standards has generated a number of specifications of our own, including standards for the manufacturing of seatbelts which range one of the highest in the world. We are however on an ongoing basis reviewing our vehicle standards in line with internationally accepted standards.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate you that government, and especially my department, is committed to reducing the rate of accidents on our roads.
The empowerment of accident investigators will ensure proper accident investigation, reduce delays in finalisation of claims and contribute to more successful criminal prosecutions. I will be looking forward to receiving a report of deliverables in the context of this conference. For those who are driving around our roads, "Arrive Alive".
It is my pleasure now, even at this hour, to declare this conference officially opened.
Thank You