Mobility
Given his Department’s R3,2 billion budget, and its stated focus on road safety:
(a) How many people have been killed in road crashes over the past three months, (b) of
those crashes, how many were linked to (i) drunk driving, (ii) reckless driving and
(iii) speeding?
- How many people have been killed in road crashes over the past three months,
Answer:
Deputy Speaker, in the past three months alone, 300 people have lost their lives on our province’s roads, that is an average of one hundred lives every month.
Of these, 167 were pedestrians, more than half of the total. Passengers accounted for 68 deaths, drivers 41, and motorcyclists 20. And when we examine crash types, 156 were pedestrian knockdowns.
These are not just numbers. Each one represents a mother or father who will never hold their child again, a child who has lost a parent, a breadwinner who will never return home. Each represents a family plunged into grief, a community left to mourn, and a life story cut tragically short.
Honourable Deputy Speaker, we cannot allow these tragedies to become routine. Every death is a reminder of our shared vulnerability and of the urgent responsibility we have to one another on our roads. Our thoughts are with the families affected, and our commitment must be to honour these lives by never becoming numb to the suffering behind these statistics.
(b) of those crashes, how many were linked to (i) drunk driving, (ii) reckless driving and (iii) speeding?
Answer:
Honourable Deputy Speaker, at this stage, verified figures are not yet available. When a crash occurs, preliminary information comes from witness statements, and SAPS then opens a culpable homicide case, reconstructs the scene, and collects blood samples. Due to forensic backlogs, these results can take six to twelve months, or longer before the courts confirm culpability.
But while the legal process runs its course, we are not waiting to act. Traffic officers are actively targeting these behaviours through random breath tests, speed enforcement operations, and high-visibility roadblocks.
Alongside these enforcement efforts, we implement a broad set of interventions to change behaviour and raise awareness. Central to this is the Road Safety Ambassador Programme, with the bulk of them sitting in high risk areas such as Mbekweni and Thembalethu. These ambassadors assist learners, guide pedestrians, and engage with public transport users, complementing enforcement and reinforcing safe road behaviour.
Honourable Speaker, road safety is urgent and requires collective effort. Government enforces and educates, drivers must obey the law, and pedestrians must remain vigilant. Only by working together, every day, in every community, can we turn these tragedies into lives saved.
