Hon Speaker, there were two matters raised by two hon members from the IFP relating to transport and safety on our roads. The hon Koos van der Merwe correctly commended the Western Cape government for introducing a naming and shaming programme for those found guilty of drunk driving or driving under the influence of one form of substance or another.
The hon Van der Merwe correctly said that this was also piloted elsewhere. I am aware that at uMsunduzi Municipality a similar programme has been conducted with great success. This underlines the fact that in order to succeed these programmes also require the co-operation of the media to actually publish the names of people guilty of this.
The importance of really focusing on this issue and trying to correct behaviour on our roads is underlined by the second matter that the second member from the IFP raised about the terrible tragedy at the Blackheath level crossing. I don't know if the hon member is aware that that evening - the accident happened in the morning at about 7 o' clock - there was a small group of people gathered at the level crossing: family, friends, police and so forth. And what happened? Another minibus driver did exactly the same thing. He cut across a whole queue of cars waiting at the level crossing and crossed over. Fortunately, in this case there was no accident and no smash. But it just underlines how absolutely reckless and senseless some people can be. It's not just minibus drivers; it's all drivers across the board who are really not taking things seriously.
The hon member suggested that we need to change the law. I don't think that the law is at fault. I think the law is there. But too often, for instance, in magistrates' courts and so on, these things are treated as if they are accidents. They are not. These are smashes caused by culpable actions and so forth. So, I think we need to toughen up the way we treat these matters. I agree that we need to look at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, and the Rail Safety Regulator to make sure that level crossings are as safe as possible. However, in many cases it's not the infrastructure or the booms. They were there in this case; it's driver behaviour. Thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]