Chairperson, much media attention has rightly been given to the recent Arrive Alive campaign during this Easter period, and the Department of Transport reported last week:
This year's 105 road fatalities were a significant drop compared to the 197 lives lost last year during the same period.
I disagree with some of the speakers who previously said that there is an improvement. Interrogating this statement tells us this is actually incorrect. The figure of 197 quoted was the final figure for 2009 but this year's 105 deaths is a preliminary figure and thus can't be compared until the final figure is out. The Road Traffic Management Corporation, RTMC, is not comparing apples with apples, which is a tendency of theirs.
They have a knack for playing with figures and misleading the public. Since 1999 we have not had full statistics. From 2001 till the present, there are only incomplete details on fatal crashes. The most important statistical measure is fatalities per 100 million vehicles per km. This is an overall expression of the risk of road deaths, taking into account all sorts of different factors. This figure has not been released by government since 2006.
From 2007 to 2008, the "new" measure introduced by government was changed to fatalities per 10 000 vehicles. This is incorrect. Without proper comparisons and statistics, how can one strategise and plan? At present, our stats are in a shambles. We need to adhere to the international ratio of 100 million vehicles per kilometre.
I'm glad the Minister has paid attention to road safety. Certainly, I see no ubuntu that the Minister speaks about regarding our roads. Our roads continue to be a haven for carnage and death. Speed control has not yet yielded any improved results. Since 1998 road deaths and fatalities have more than doubled.
Speed prosecution creates the illusion of enforcement without actually adding anything to safety. The high numbers of speeding fines have been offered as proof that the authorities are doing everything in their power to reduce road deaths, but the motorist does not co-operate. The problem is that the offences, which are the most direct causes of crashes, are not being addressed.
The many traffic offences on the court roll, which the Minister mentioned, are overwhelmingly speed related. Road deaths will not be reduced until the focus of law enforcement shifts to moving violations instead of speeding. For example, someone who habitually changes lanes without checking or signalling, who is intoxicated or drugged, or whose following distance is too close on the road, is a danger. We need to catch these culprits, and we won't catch them from behind a bush with a laser gun. Controlled visible policing is the internationally proven solution.
I'm glad the Deputy Minister touched on the state of our roads. Replies to questions that I posed recently to the Minister indicated that only 8% of the entire South African road network is in an optimal state. This represents a staggering fall of 75% since 1988. Within a few years, there will not be a single road in the country in good condition, unless something is done immediately.
The most immediate consequence of this is that poor road conditions endanger the lives of all commuters. The RTMC recently revealed that poor road maintenance caused 1 694 deaths and a staggering cost of R10 billion annually in the last four years.
In the longer term, poor road infrastructure has devastating consequences for our country's economic growth. A recent study by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research revealed that bad roads have a negative impact on logistics costs, especially as trucks have to travel great distances from the economic hub of Gauteng to our ports. The study indicates that logistics costs in South Africa have already reached R317 billion, or 15,9% of gross domestic product, in 2007. That was a 1% increase from 2006.
Furthermore, without an efficient road network, South Africans are constrained in their ability to move across the country and create economic opportunities. In tandem with this, we require an enhanced rail network that will move people out of their cars and onto our trains. This is difficult, considering the continued alleged corruption, cash-flow trouble and mismanagement that I keep uncovering within the Passenger Rail Authority of South Africa.
The solution to the deterioration on South African roads is the establishment of a dedicated fund especially for road maintenance - as mentioned by my colleague, hon Stuart Farrow. This is a move that the DA has been calling for for many years. Minister Ndebele has been quoted in the media supporting this, and we eagerly await action to match the words.
Other measures that the Minister can implement will be included in our safety plan, entitled "A simple six-point plan, making our roads safer", which we'd like to present for consideration when we initiate and launch a road safety indaba, as mentioned by my colleague, hon Farrow.
The Minister can immediately implement certain measures with minimal effort. These include: Firstly, investigate a new, updated K53 licence test. Secondly, re-implement driving instructors' permit tests, ensuring that instructors are of the highest standard. Thirdly, implement a licensing inspectorate so that driving examiners are assessed at least annually. Fourthly, implement a provisional licensing system for new drivers, incorporating a five-year retest, which keeps drivers up-to-date with new developments in driving. Fifthly, replace speed-orientated traffic enforcement with moving violations and drink-driving orientated enforcement, as has been implemented in the Western Cape with their Safely Home campaign.
Lastly, no new laws need to be introduced to bring in simple and cost- effective existing innovations that can save lives. Innovative technologies, such as this child-retainer harness, are an example of this. Such a harness can easily be slipped onto a seat belt, ensuring that children and pre-teens are safely strapped without being hurt by safety belt-related injuries, which are in fact considerable.
Implementing such basic measures and undergoing a paradigm shift in the department can go a long way towards improving the unacceptable situation that we currently have on our roads. Thank you, Chair.