Kempton Park 29 January 2000
Colleague Minister Mosunkutu
Your Worships the Mayor and Mayoress of Greater Johannesburg
Your Worships the Mayor and Mayoress of Pretoria
Honoured Taxi Council Members and Representatives of the Taxi Drivers’ Union
Representatives of the Sponsors and Members of the Media
and, last but far from least, Competition Finalists and your Spouses
Let me begin by expressing my heartfelt thanks to the sponsors of the Taxi Driver of the Year Competition for the opportunity to say a few words on this important occasion. And let me also warmly welcome and congratulate all the taxi drivers who participated in the competition and are with us here this evening. We are honoured by your presence, because you are an honour to your profession. It is wonderful to be here celebrating positive developments in the taxi industry, because all of us know how difficult a history lies behind it and how much energy and commitment have already been invested in the long struggle to turn it into a model service for our people.
You will bear with me, then, if some of the things I am going to be saying to you stray away from the good news and remind us of the huge unfinished tasks we face in making this country a place where we can be at ease with ourselves and one another, in peace, prosperity and security.
Nothing can be more important to us than the safety of our people. This applies to all of us as individuals, citizens of our country, mothers, fathers, children, relatives, friends. We come from a turbulent and violent past. The family that we call South Africa was for many years split apart, broken up, divided and humiliated. In our pain we learned to bind together, to resist oppression, to build dreams of a better future and a better life for all. And we triumphed. We now live in a society that, for the first time in 350 years, has discovered political democracy and has opened up opportunities for progress to all of its citizens.
But apartheid left us a terrible legacy. It destroyed mutual respect and self-respect. It dehumanised people, and like a cancer spread a culture of violence in our suffering land. Many of us became involved in crime, and found old and new ways to oppress, humiliate, injure and exploit each other. You and I know very well that we are still living - and dying - in the whirlpool of these problems in our new South Africa.
This anti-human culture, these behaviour patterns and attitudes continue to thrive, causing untold misery to our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. While this continues we must be honest and admit - we don’t yet have the full fruits of democracy. We don’t yet have the full fruits of freedom. We are still involved in a war - albeit of a different kind.
The struggle now is more complicated, because it has to be fought in so many areas of society. Its victories are less easy to see. It takes time to build systems of delivery that work and a culture of mutual respect rooted in strong experiences of empowerment, creativity and collective problem solving. These processes are fragile. They take time to become strong.
Of course government has a vital role to play in creating and defending the vital space that people need to live their lives in peace and growing prosperity. In a moment or two I will speak a little about what we are doing and about some of the many things we know we still need to do. But just as important is the example that individuals and groups like yourselves, acting together independently of government, can give to the rest of us in showing how things can and should be done.
That is why an occasion like this is so significant. It recognises progress, it builds confidence, and it attacks the cynicism of those who say things like "all minibus taxi drivers are bandits." Of course it’s nice to be recognised. It’s even better to win prizes. But you as taxi drivers know that there’s a more important point. You wouldn’t have entered this competition if you hadn’t already put a high value on safe driving and serving your customers with care and respect.
In doing so you showed that you know who your real judges are. You showed which side you are on in the new war - the war that will be have to be won though peaceful means, through the force of example, through the growing determination of all communities to organise together and isolate those who prey on society.
You are the support base and the monitors of our country’s security services, whose job it is to finish off the battle. Without you - and more and more people organised together like you, with the determination to make a difference - they will not be able to succeed.
There, then - as I see it - is the framework within which we are all working.
Let me now turn to more detailed matters.
We have just come to the end of the Arrive Alive festive season campaign. And we have learned some hard lessons. Not just over the last two months, but over the last two years and more. The accident rate for December and January came down very slightly in comparison to the same period last year. At the same time, however, the number of deaths resulting from those accidents went up slightly. The campaign did not meet its year on year target of a 5% reduction in fatal accidents and deaths.
While this was disappointing, it underlined a very important lesson which we have already started addressing: namely that Arrive Alive, as a high impact, high intensity peak-period enforcement and communication campaign, has reached its natural limits. We are today very clear that we will only make further progress through an uninterrupted year-round road safety programme -not just a campaign, but a programme built on the foundations of a comprehensive safety strategy which encompasses every aspect of the problem.
This means - yes - enforcement, coordination and communication; but it also means much more stringent legislation and regulation of vehicle fitness and design, eliminating fraud and corruption in driver and vehicle licensing and testing, targeted rehabilitation of dangerous sections of road, sure and effective prosecution and fine collection, effective use of electronic technology, a complete overhaul and restructuring of road traffic management systems in South Africa - and, equally important, the vigorous implementation of these measures.
We need to move with speed and determination, but in a carefully planned and structured way. Road traffic safety has many components. It starts before the driver gets into the vehicle or the pedestrian leaves his or her home to walk across the street or along the highway. It is already an issue before the vehicle’s engine is started.
It becomes critical as soon as you put all these elements together, and it gets even more critical after a crash has taken place.
In other words it begins and ends with attitudes - will we have a culture of care and respect or the culture of disrespect, of gambling with lives, that I was talking about just now? The effects - one way or the other - spread throughout the whole system.
Did the driver or pedestrian take to the road after drinking?Did the driver think that it was OK to get as fast as possible from A to B, so that he or she had no time to stop before ploughing into the child crossing the road?
Was the driver unqualified to drive because he or she thought it was clever to buy a fraudulent licence?
Was the vehicle stolen or put through a crooked roadworthiness test?
Was it running on bald tyres?
Was the bus or minibus taxi overloaded in order to squeeze a few more Rands out of the passengers whose lives were being put at risk?
Before any of us start scapegoating others - whether it be minibus taxi drivers or long-distance lorry drivers or whoever - we’d better be sure that we can confidently answer "no" to all these questions.
I spoke earlier about a culture of violence and crime. What we call "accidents" are almost always the result of criminal driver behaviour. Such behaviour does not represent some special category of "innocent" crime. It represents a blatant refusal to comply with the law.
Let me be frank and say that anyone who transgresses in the ways I have just outlined is a potential or actual killer, and will be prosecuted as such. We can and will drastically reduce the carnage on our roads - but only once we all drop our tolerance level to zero. Not just in words but in practice.
We know that the zero tolerance culture we require can only be built step by step, around tangible changes which people experience as reality in their everyday lives. It will take time, concerted effort and total commitment to build. But we are moving fast already. Let me share with you some of the key measures which will be implemented over the next year as we continue to develop our comprehensive strategy for road safety.
You will already know that by mid-year we expect to have the AARTO Infringement Agency and the new, centralised Road Traffic Management Corporation up and running. The AARTO agency is the weapon through which we begin to implement a zero tolerance approach in the area of fine collection and licence endorsement. At the same time, as the RTMC gathers strength, it will put an end to the current fragmented state of traffic management and law enforcement by pooling, coordinating and streamlining all national road traffic management resources, systems and technologies.
These two agencies will be the core institutions around which the comprehensive strategy is built. But at the same time we have identified a number of critical supporting measures which can start to be implemented immediately and in the medium term.
Let me tell you about some of the key actions which we have already put on the agenda for urgent discussion with provincial and local government and industry role-players with a view to finalisation within the next few months.
On the licensing side:
All driver’s licence and vehicle testing centres where fraud has been detected will be closed down; and the resources and powers of the licensing inspectorate will be strengthened to make sure that this process is carried through effectively.
To ensure sufficient numbers of testing centres, I will be consulting my provincial colleagues with a view to allowing the commercialisation and/or privatisation of these centres, under a strict regulatory regime.
In order to give the regulatory regime teeth, I am consulting with my colleague MECs about the establishment of a National Inspectorate for Driving Licence Testing Centres with adequate powers and capacities to conduct continuous, unannounced inspection of all such Centres.
On the driver side:
We are already investigating the practicalities of making advanced driver training for commercial and public passenger transport drivers compulsory.
Professional Driver’s Permit applications and renewals will be tied to thorough annual medical, stress-related and drug- and stimulant-usage tests. These will be conducted by doctors specifically identified and approved by the Medical Council.
The bi-annual Professional Driver’s Permit renewal test will from now on contain a compulsory practical as well as theoretical component.
In parallel with this, I am looking at the possibility of amending the AARTO legislation to provide for a stricter demerit points system for professional drivers.
As far as the standard K53 driver’s licence test is concerned, we are seriously considering introducing a staged licence system, with special restrictions and usage conditions attached to the licences of, for example, drivers with less than 5 years experience.
We will soon be introducing a single compulsory test for driving school instructors which will ensure a high level of knowledge and skills. The training material is ready and will be implemented through the South African Institute for Driving Instructors.
On the issue of driver working hours:
My legal staff are currently examining amendments to the National Road Traffic Act of 1996 which will strictly prescribe both the maximum allowable driving hours and the specifications for onboard monitoring equipment which will be used to enforce these hours.
Together with operators, the Department of Labour and the unions, we will shortly be initiating a full-scale review of the working conditions, compensation and existing incentive schemes for professional drivers, with a view to eliminating unacceptable practices which may lead to unsafe driving behaviour. I shall also be consulting with the Minister of Labour to broaden the scope of the Inspectorate for Occupational Health and Safety to include the power to direct commercial operators to put in place policies which specifically cover driving hours and vehicle roadworthiness.
On the vehicle equipment side:
Following the model employed in the minibus taxi registration process, I am examining the possibility of introducing mandatory Operator’s Licences in the bus and coach industry, tied to the possession of valid COFs for all vehicles, valid PrDPs for all drivers and adherence to a Standard Operating Safety Code.
Through the AARTO points demerit system, I want to empower the state to suspend or ultimately revoke an operator’s licence if there is substantial evidence of non-compliance with the Code.
I am going to mandate the SABS to update existing standard specifications for onboard tachographs and computers in heavy freight vehicles, buses and coaches, and I will be approaching attorneys general and public prosecutors to allow the use of print-outs from such equipment as evidence for the prosecution of offending operators and drivers.
Our taxi driver colleagues here tonight will no doubt already be aware that such equipment is part of the standard set of specifications for the new 18 and 35 seater mini- and midi-buses which will begin entering the market from October this year through the taxi recapitalisation process.
Special attention is currently being given - not only as part of the taxi recapitalisation process but for buses and coaches as well - to the feasibility of fitting or retrofitting seatbelts for all passengers, in conjunction with other safety features such as roll-over protection.
Again, particularly with the experience of the minibus taxi industry in mind, a team of my officials has been conducting a study into the effectiveness of devices designed to stabilise vehicles in the event of a tyre blow-out. It is very likely that the fitting of such devices, once we are fully satisfied as to their effectiveness, will be added to the list of specifications for the new taxis.
The same team of officials is also evaluating the experience of various countries which have made engine speed limiters a legal requirement, to see whether the evidence points to any significant reduction in crash statistics for vehicles so fitted. If the evidence proves conclusive, serious consideration will be given to their introduction here for buses, coaches and the new taxis.
On the operator side:
The SABS is currently developing a Code of Practice on quality management systems for freight, bus and coach operators, which will include rules on driver hours and vehicle maintenance requirements. Our taxi driver colleagues will again probably be aware that purchase of the new taxis is to be tied to a compulsory maintenance contract. They may also be interested to know that our intention is to make the SABS Code of Practice applicable to their industry as well.
On the general law enforcement side:
As soon as the RTMC is established, it is planned to create a high-level national law enforcement team, drawing in some of the best officers from the current provincial forces. Directly managed by the RTMC, the team will operate as a mobile trouble-shooting force, focussing its enforcement actions on identified top priority accident red spots. The officers will be equipped and trained in the use of the full range of electronic and laser detection technologies and will carry out hard-hitting, targeted programmes of enforcement in one province over a pre-determined period before moving into the next province.
Aligning their activities with year-round Arrive Alive actions, they will focus special attention on public transport and commercial vehicles. Parallel to this, the tactical plans of Arrive Alive will be modified to concentrate more intensively on freight vehicles, buses and minibus taxis.
I would also like to make it clear today that I and my Department are not deaf to the many appeals by individuals and organisations to dramatically increase the number of traffic officers on patrol duty on South Africa’s roads. Inevitably, we have to face the reality of financial resource constraints. Government simply doesn’t have the money to go out and recruit thousands of new officers - and airy assertions that increased fine revenues will more then cover their salary, equipment and operational expenses are not helpful.
However, what I can say we are urgently looking at - even prior to the establishment of the RTMC - are the following short term actions:
Provinces and local authorities are being urged to examine every possible means to make more funds available for overtime remuneration and - even more importantly - for the filling of as many currently vacant traffic officer posts as funds will allow.
They are also being urged, wherever possible, to appoint additional staff to undertake routine administrative tasks in order to free up qualified traffic officers for full-time enforcement work.
Great attention is being given to the focussed implementation of the TRAFMAN computerised management system, to ensure that its power as a planning instrument is realised to the full and that time and resource wastage in the deployment of human and technical resources is eliminated from the system. Working well means working smarter. Feedback from the optimal use of TRAFMAN will help the RTMC to accurately assess the extent of the objective need for increased officer recruitment against the performance improvements the system must be made to deliver.
Finally, let me say a word or two about communication and community involvement in road traffic safety. Our research shows that three years of intensive TV, radio and press messages around the Six Commandments of Arrive Alive have had a significant effect on some aspects of road user consciousness in some sectors of society. But we now think that while these activities should be maintained at a holding level, the limits to their effectiveness have been shown.
There are three issues here:
Who are we reaching and who are we missing?
Are our messages empowering, in the sense that they change behaviour?
Connected with this is the question: how do you ensure that you move from individual reactions and responses to TV and radio safety messages - however shocking and emotional these may be - to community involvement and ownership of the whole issue of road safety?
Our answers to these questions are also linked together. We are not yet adequately reaching many of the people who are most involved in road accidents, usually as pedestrians or innocent passengers in public transport: in other words, working people and the poorest of the poor.
Therefore - in combination with enforcement aimed at drivers and operators -we have to get down into these communities and make sure that road safety becomes a part of daily consciousness and action - in primary and secondary schools, churches, and as many community based organisations as can be reached. This is the long term route to empowerment, to creating the culture of responsibility, mutual care and respect that I began by talking about in the context of our long history of crime and violence.
What we need to build towards is a level of confidence and entitlement in these communities which gives public transport passengers the courage to challenge operators and drivers who overload, to refuse to enter unroadworthy vehicles, even if this inconveniences them, to collectively shame drivers who are arrogant, negligent or reckless. We need children who make their parents life miserable if they speed or don’t wear seatbelts; people who are prepared to take their friends’ keys away if they try to drive after drinking.
But to achieve these levels of active participation we need concrete measures which genuinely empower people. In this regard, I am looking at the following initial steps:
Giving public transport customers easy access to legal and other complaint mechanisms through which they can report offending operators or drivers and serve as witnesses in safety prosecutions. The first steps can be taken by setting up customer complaint lines and complaint desks at major terminuses, both of which are linked effectively to enforcement authorities.
Making it compulsory to put customer complaint numbers on the outside of buses and coaches.
Monitoring public transport operators’ safety records and publishing information on their safety performance.
Empowering organised groups like the South African Commuters’ Organisation, unions, schools and industry associations to monitor public transport services and carry out specific safety projects supported by targeted funding and performance agreements.
All this goes hand in hand with developing healthy competition, based on democratic transport planning, tight regulation and enforcement, in the public passenger transport market, so that passengers become customers who can use their increasing power to choose the good operators and drivers and boycott the bad operators and drivers. Our history is full of experience of using the boycott weapon. We must create the conditions where we can once again use it effectively, in a more fully empowered context.
As you can see, all this implies an entirely new approach to partnership between government and community in the development of a comprehensive road safety strategy: an approach jointly driven by national and provincial government, the RTMC, provincial and local traffic authorities, committed operators and drivers, school principals, staff and children, religious leaders, NGOs and CBOs, transport industry organisations and big business sponsors.
The crucial point, however, is that the end product must be active and dynamic ownership of road safety by communities across the whole face of South Africa.
It is a long road, but an exciting one. It is the only road to the great cultural change that we all want to see.
Congratulations to all of you for this excellent and forward-looking initiative. I trust that the experience will have encouraged you to make the competition an annual event; or better still, to raise it to the national level.
Thank you.