This first week of November we reflected on what transpired on our roads throughout the month of October which is celebrated as the “Transport Month”. The focus, as most often, was on the N1 north between Bela Bela and Polokwane as the strip of our national road where most accidents happen. And in the mainstream media, political gatherings and social media, commentators tried to look at how this carnage could be contained. This week I try to provide my conceptual thought on how a campaign could be undertaken especially during next month as the festive season beacons.
Background
The N1 from Bela Bela to Musina has claimed many lives even before the dawn of democracy in 1994. Although we will pay homage to come of our celebrated sons and daughters we’ve lost to accidents on this road, we don’t pretend to claim that these were the only lives lost. We mention these names because we think it is perhaps significant that we use them to illustrate the point that the carnage on our roads devours everyone – irrespective of their social standing: from passengers on their way to a church pilgrimage; youths on their way from a party; a drunk pedestrian crossing the road without ensuring it was safe for them; a migrant father/mother/husband/wife rushing back home to their loved ones in the province; to the people in higher offices of our land. These accidents happen because someone didn’t apply their minds appropriately to respect road safety rules.
These roads forced the entire nation to mourn the passing on some of the finest of our people’s leaders from Limpopo province: Pandelani Ramagoma; Collins Chabane; Norman Mashabane; Frans Mohlala (though on the Polokwane-Tzaneen route) and Joyce Matshoge. The angel of death robbed us as a nation of these finest leaders. Yes even in the sporting fraternity, we have lost our heroes. We will never forget the passing on of our soccer legend, Lesley Manyathela. Indeed our hearts shall never stop mourning the passing on of four players who belonged to Polokwane City football club.
Yes, we still suffer the excruciating pain of losing another soccer legend, Thomas Madigage. This one hit home harder as he was from a meeting with the Sekhukhune district Municipality to discuss the youth soccer initiative, Inter Campus, which we were planning to launch in partnership with Italy’s Inter (Milan) – one of my pet projects on a diplomatic posting to Italy.
With festive season about to dawn, thousands of our people resident in other provinces will be driving back home to Limpopo province; hundreds of tourists will be visiting the province; and thousands more will be driving through the province visiting the neighbouring African countries north of the Limpopo river.
So the road safety campaign shouldn’t only target the Limpopo residents, but also neighbouring provinces as their citizenry/residents will be visiting or driving through the province during the festive season.
I hereby propose a concept that the authorities could adopt in mounting a road safety mass awareness campaign intended to conscientise all road users on safety measures and in order to turn the rising curve of road accidents and fatalities.
The harrowing statistics
The 2019/2020 statistics reported in January this year are a real cause of concern for all of us. While the number of people who died on South African roads, across the other eight provinces, during the festive season had decreased by 10% when compared to the previous period, unfortunately it was ONLY Limpopo that recorded an acute increase of over ten percent..
The total number of fatal crashes were down by 3% from 1 438 in 2018/19 to 1 390 in 2019/2020. This resulted in a 10% reduction in the number of fatalities, from in 1 789 fatalities in 2018/19 to 1 617 fatalities in the 2019/2020 festive season.
These could be broken down as follows: 111 people died on the roads in the Free State; 144 in Mpumalanga, 136 in the Western Cape, 110 in the North West, 49 in the Northern Cape, 242 in the Eastern Cape, 354 in KwaZulu-Natal, 217 in Limpopo and 254 in Gauteng. Although the province was ranked the fourth, each death is one too many.
Analysing the varied causes of accidents, it calls upon us to launch a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder campaign to reach all the road users. The main causes of fatal crashes over this period were pedestrians, single vehicle overturning, hit and run and head-on collisions. The majority of road users, who died on the roads, were pedestrians (40%), passengers (34%), drivers (25%) and cyclists (1%). And the vehicles mostly involved in fatal crashes were light motorcars at 42%, light delivery vehicles at 20% and minibuses or combis 9%.
While other provinces recorded the highest reduction in fatalities with the Free State experiencing a 35% decline; followed by Mpumalanga with 23%; the Western Cape with 19%; the North West with 16% decline; Northern Cape 13%; Eastern Cape 7% and KwaZulu-Natal 5%; although Limpopo was one of the two with Gauteng that recorded an increase in fatalities, it recorded a sharp increase of 12% with the latter at 1%.
The cost of the accidents is not only contributing to human degradation, but to the economy too as the number of people who lost their lives during the 2019/2020 festive season cost the economy in excess of R168 billion.
This has to be stopped.
Conceptual framework
Shakespeare succinctly captured the secret to road safety through what could also be related to our traditional wisdom here at home by musing: “The best safety lies in fear.” In my Setswana tradition, we express the same by saying: “Gaabo lefsega, ga go lliwe.“
I honestly believe the cause of the carnage on our roads is “Thoughtlessness!”
And our overall theme should be captured in a poetic statement by the African-American anti-segregationist, Arthur Fletcher, Head of the United Negro College, when he said: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
What does Arthur Fletcher mean? In short, you waste your mind, you destroy lives! You stop thinking, you waste lives.
Many of us stop thinking as soon as we sit on the driving seat to hit the road. We drive our cars wasted. We drive recklessly. We don’t respect traffic rules. We don’t think about causing accidents.
Let me share with you a few quotable quotes on thinking.
The significance of thinking:
- “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking…” Albert Einstein.
Indeed, our roads are claiming lives of our people during the festive season. This can be brought to a halt if we change our thinking as road users.
- “We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking…”Santosh Kalwar.
Indeed, the key to road safety lies in our thinking.
- “Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think…” Thomas A. Edison.
The question each one of us should ask themselves before driving or walking into the street/road: “Am I part of the 85% that Mr Edison spoke about?”
Many of us don’t think before we hit the roads/streets.
Many of us partake alcohol and walk into the streets, forgetting about accidents. Some is us text on their smart phones while mindlessly walking in the streets. Others jaywalk. And some even walk in the dark of the night wearing dark clothes, motorists not seeing them. Pedestrians, think about your safety too.
Let’s all think during this festive season. Motorists and pedestrians alike. Think about your life. Think about the lives of your loved ones. Think about fellow drivers. Think everyone has a family. Think for other drivers! Think about your passengers. Think about other road users. Yes, think about pedestrians, yes and the jaywalkers! Think about saving lives.
Think this car isn’t a coffin, it carries lives. These aren’t roads to perdition. They take us home to our loved ones. They take us to holiday. Think about taking your time to get home, ALIVE! Think about all reaching home, ALIVE. Think about life. Think to save lives.
As you hit the road, think! Think about the family taking a ride with you. Their lives are at your disposal. Think about your family awaiting your arrival at home. Think about the excitement written on your children’s faces as they can’t wait to welcome you home. Think about the parents who aren’t ready to bury their own children. As a driver, you owe it to them. Don’t break their hearts. Don’t shatter their lives.
Think about all the rules. Think K53! Respect all the rules! Respect fellow drivers. Respect your passengers. Respect the roads! Think about the dangers of speeding. Think about the mechanical health of your car. Is it roadworthy? Is it well serviced? Think that your vehicle doesn’t think? Think you are the driver!
Don’t drink and drive. Think before you start the engine. We all think before we utter something. We know the danger of not observing this rule.
Similarly evidence abounds about thoughtless driving. In morgues. In graveyards. In hospital deathbeds. On wheelchairs. Assistive devices tell harrowing stories. Impaired movements. Many widowed. Many orphaned. All resulting from our recklessness in driving.
Think. Think. Think about everything you may encounter on the road. Think about distractions. Humans. Animals. Other cars. Think about the animals crossing the road. Think about the potholes.
Although I place responsibility on us as drivers, passengers and pedestrians on road safety, I still can’t understand why government can’t think about reducing accidents by putting dividing slabs between traffic in opposite directions from Kranskop to Polokwane. The cost will be exorbitant but not as high as loss of lives, Road Accident Fund and insurance claims.
We should utilise the following road safety tips by celebrities in all our marketing collaterals:
- “The economic waste resulting from carelessness is appalling, but anyone who stops for a moment to consider the sorrow and desolation which is brought into thousands of lives each year by utter thoughtlessness must feel a new resolve to make a habit of “Safety First.” – W. C. Durant
- “The real enemy of safety is not non-compliance but non-thinking.” – Dr. Rob Long
- “A lot of the people who keep a gun at home for safety are the same ones who refuse to wear a seat belt.” – George Carlin
- “A tree never hits an automobile except in self-defense.” – Unknown
- “Baseball is like driving. It’s the one who gets home safely that counts.” – Tommy Lasorda
- Caution is the parent of safety.”- Unknown
- “Don’t learn by accident.” – Unknown
- “Everything you need to get that relaxed driving that brings consistency only comes with practice.”- Unknown
- Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.” – Mac McCleary
- “Reckless driving is operating a vehicle in a speed or manner likely to endanger other drivers.” – Unknown
- “Recklessness is a species of crime and should be so regarded on our streets and highways.” – Marlen E. Pew
- Road sense is the offspring of courtesy and the parent of safety.” – Unknown
- “Safety doesn’t happen by accident.” – Unknown
- “Safety First is Safety Always.” – Charles M. Hayes
- “Safety is a continuing journey, not a final destination.” –Unknown
- “The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it.” – Dudley Moore
- “The best safety lies in fear.” – William Shakespeare
- “For safety is not a gadget but a state of mind.” – Eleanor Everet
- “Government’s first duty and highest obligation is public safety.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Safety quotes that will inspire you to do better
- “Hug your kids at home but belt them in the car.”- Unknown
- “If safety is a joke, then death is the punchline.” – Unknown
- “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll
- “If you drink, don’t drive. Don’t even putt.” – Dean Martin
- “I’m not a daredevil. I don’t fly without a safety net.” – Steve Wynn
- “It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile, and one nut to scatter it all over the road.” – Unknown
- “Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer.”- Unknown
- “Luck runs out but safety is good for life.” – Unknown
- “My job provides the paycheck but safety takes me home.” – Unknown
- “Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.” – Unknown
- “The future of the safety movement is not so much dependent upon the invention of safety devices as on the improvement of methods of educating people to the ideal of caution and safety.” – Walter Dill Scott
- “Precaution is better than cure.” – Edward Coke
- “Safety brings first aid to the uninjured.” – F.S. Hughes
- “Personally, I’d rather be late for dinner tonight here than to be on time for breakfast in the next world in the morning. Haste makes waste of a lot of good human material.” – Irvin S. Cobb
- “Let’s manage safety recognizing how humans are and stop managing safety the way we wish humans were.” – Alan Quilley
- “Nothing is of greater importance that the conservation of human life.” – Calvin Coolidge
- “Safety is 30% Common Sense, 80% Compliance and the rest is good luck.” – Barry Spud
- “Shallow men believe in luck; wise and strong men in the cause and effect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Teaching the world to be careful is a constructive service worthy of God’s great gift of life to man.” – Justice Harold H. Burton
- “The automobile has brought death, injury and the most inestimable sorrow and deprivation to millions of people.” – Ralph Nader
I hope these quotable quotes may inspire us to adopt road safety measures and to strengthen our resolve to comply with all the road safety regulations.
The week that was
Yesterday I was privileged to be hosted on Chai FM by Dr Nimrod Mbele on his cutting-edge programme, “Beyond Governance”, as we unpacked economic development opportunities unlocked by the Africa free continental free trade agreement (AfCFTA) that came into operation from 1 January this. We were joined by the author of two riveting, truly “unputdownable” books, “Africa Open for Business” and hot-off-the-press, “Africa Bounces Back”, Victor Kgomoeswana. While I will share podcast of the interview at the bottom of this commentary, let me share interesting synopsis of the books captured in a marketing flyer to give you a taste of what a prolific author this commentator, broadcaster and exceptional communicator Victor is.
“When asked if Africa is still open for business, Kgomoeswana confidently says, ‘It depends on your perspective.’ Africa Bounces Back draws on case studies that look at the continent’s response to COVID-19 and where it might leave us, how the shift from globalisation to more nationalist politics could impact the region amidst growing global terror and the tipping point of the African Continental Free Trade Area implementations.
“Kgomoeswana also revisits previous case studies, including Ethiopian Airlines, China’s ongoing involvement in Africa and the ‘new normal’ innovations that have caused much-needed disruptions in their sectors. Africa Bounces Back is a reminder that even in the mist of crisis, a resilient spirit, decisive action and the correct perspective can lead to progress and, ultimately, success.”
And the flyer on the first book reads: “Victor Kgomoeswana, well known as an African business expert with a profile on radio and television, shares 50 stories of innovation and opportunity behind the business headlines of the last ten years on the African continent, with some revised content since the first edition of the book in May 2014. From the introduction of M-PESA in Kenya to changing the image of Nigeria as Africa’s fraud capital, and from Rwandan coffee farmers to other remarkable stories in between, Kgomoeswana criss-crosses the continent to highlight and revisit the most fascinating business stories and their impact on the future of Africa.
“Africa is Open for Business contains a dynamic and different view of the opportunities available in Africa from those usually portrayed in the news and in other media. Kgomoeswana focuses on the stories behind the headlines as well as sharing his personal experiences of Africa while travelling and doing business in a way that is as entertaining as it is informative.”
This Chai FM interview was preceded by the first of my two part interview series on Thobela FM, an SABC radio station, during the day in which I shared my thoughts on current developments in Africa arguing that while there are problems in Sudan, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and even Libya, there’s more to celebrate on the continent within the context of the operationalisation of the AfCFTA. While we welcome the recent suspension from the African Union (AU) of the two countries that suffered coups by the military junta in line with the continental authority’s principle of condemning “unconstitutional transfer of power”, we also appreciate a coinage by the civil society that equally condemns the “unconstitutional extension of power”. Indeed we have to silence the guns on the continent for our economies to thrive.
Grateful to the Enterprises UP (University of Pretoria) for having hosted such a successful strategy session on Wednesday with the Brandhill Africa group, Farmers Connect Africa and Garyfen as we explored opportunities in the agriculture and mining sectors.
Enjoy your weekend.
Saul Molobi
Publisher
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