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The Acting Head of the Department Mr Lesego Wolfe and senior officials;
Stakeholders in the Transport and Safety fraternity;
Representatives of MDM Formations;
Representatives from various media houses;
Government Officials;
Distinguished guests;
Fellow citizens of the Northern Cape;
And most importantly, our guests and our future – the Youth of our Province;
Ladies and gentlemen
I am highly honoured to be addressing you as the youth of our Province on such an important aspect of the country - road safety under a vibrant theme: #BeingSafeIsCool.
As MEC responsible for Sports, Arts and Culture in the Province it means I get to interact with a lot of vibrant, proactive and outspoken youth. And I am encouraged to see that today’s agenda is driven by a high calibre of young minds who will be interacting through an important conversation of saving lives for a better constructed future.
You as the youth, cannot be left behind when critical decisions are made because you are a construct of a developing society and today’s Provincial Youth Road Safety Summit is an opportunity for you to put your mark on an agenda of National importance: which is saving lives of all road users. That means, you and I: pedestrians, motorists, passengers and cyclists.
Today, you have a task ahead of you which I am confident you will achieve and realise it is an opportunity to share your ideas and innovations on how we can save the lives of our people on our roads. Remember, what you discuss here today will impact on the lives of the people in this country and you will contribute towards saving our today for tomorrow. If one idea that comes from the collective today can save a life, then, that is a job well-done because to lose one life on our roads is one life too many.
Today’s summit will form part of the global goal of the United Nation’s Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, that is endorsed by more than one hundred governments, including our South African Government. The aim of this Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, is that in this period of 10 years we aim to stabilise and reduce road fatalities by half, from the 2010 baseline. This translates into saving up to 5 million lives, and preventing up to 50 million serious injuries.
So, when these governments set these goals, they also came up with a decision to develop national action plans for the decade of 2011-2020, which has resulted in a number of actions being taken and systems and resources being put in place to achieve this goal. One such action was the Road Safety Summit held in 2015, where the Youth Commission compiled a number of strategic interventions aimed at combating road carnage and one of those is to conduct Provincial Youth Road Safety Summits in 2016 that will culminate to a National Youth Road Safety Summit earmarked for June 2016, a reason we are gathered here today.
So, this Summit forms part of the bigger picture because as a Province we can influence the outcomes of the number of lives saved in our Province, same with other Provinces which will paint a National picture that will contribute to the global picture.
With this said, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people especially between the ages of 15-29 (SA – 25) years old globally and more than 1 000 young people die every day and thousands more are seriously injured. Over 30% of those killed and injured in road traffic crashes are less than 25 years old.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation in their 2015/16 Festive report, indicate the percentage contribution of fatalities per road user group for the period 1 December 2015 to 11 January 2016 is 38.3% for passenger fatalities, followed by pedestrians with 34.9% contribution to the total fatalities.
So, as you go into your different commissions to generate solutions towards road safety and curbing road fatalities and injuries, take some of these factors into consideration.
Allow me to further share this harsh reality with you today that I hope will impact positively on your decisions. You as the youth are identified as a high risk population group because you are said to be inexperienced, you overestimate your abilities, and your behaviour patterns are strongly associated with expectations and social pressures that promote risk taking on the road, such as not using seat belts, speeding and drinking and driving.
Let me find some light at the end of the tunnel for you. According to Statistics South Africa (2014), young people constitute 37 percent of the country’s population. This means you are a powerful resource for the country, provided you are supported and able to become active members of society.
This summit is an opportunity to voice your views and interventions as young people on issues of road safety and to contribute towards paradigm shift in attitudes and behaviour towards road safety among your peers.
As I conclude, you are awarded an opportunity to contribute towards the “Youth Declaration for Road Safety” – a document describing the views of young people on what they, their parents, teachers, government leaders and others can do to improve road safety, which will be used to catalyse attention and spur action around the world.
Grab this opportunity with both hands because 40 of you will have an opportunity to represent the views of our Province at the National Youth Road Safety Summit next month and have a further opportunity to form part of a team that will co-lead
Road Safety in the Province with the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison.
The future is in your hands. Together lets savelives and the first step is to realise that “Road Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility.”
I wish you all the best in your deliberations.
Thank you.
Enkosi.
Ke a leboga.
Dankie.
#BeingSafeIsCool