KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma says his department will use a carrot-and-stick approach in law enforcement to deal with the scourge of accidents that claim thousands of lives on the roads each year.
He said those who comply with the country’s laws, especially in the logistics industry, must be incentivised, while those who violate them should be punished.
Duma said accidents on the country’s roads often involved trucks and the issue of drunk drivers was also a serious concern.
Recently appointed to the position, Duma said he was grateful that the two portfolios were previously held by the ANC, making it easy to continue the work that had been done.
Speaking to members of Independent Newspapers’ editorial team in Durban on Tuesday, he said the new administration remained focused on improving the lives of people.
He said shortly after being appointed as Transport MEC, he had to attend a mass funeral of victims of a road crash.
“In South Africa, people will buy a licence, just imagine someone carrying lives on the road with a bought licence ... it is something that must not take place.
“We plan to curb accidents by targeting those trucks on the roads that are operating without brakes, if you employ more South Africans you will be incentivised, if we find a truck with someone (illegally in the country) they will enter the criminal system, the driver and the owner of the truck must be arrested, we are slowly going to do that and it’s something that is going to work,” he added.
Touching on issues that frustrate many members of the public, such as the long queues at transport offices for renewing or obtaining a driving licence, he said the solution lay in technology.
Duma spoke in detail about other projects, including a plan to turn the Richards Bay area into a key source of power that would supply parts of the province and neighbouring countries.
He touched on the importance of providing houses and dignity to the province’s residents, saying that transport was central to any development taking place.
“The Department of Transport is the anchor department, even in rural communities, it is one of the biggest shareholders of the budget, managing roads, building roads, building bridges in rural areas where there was no access and where schoolkids are struggling to go to school.”
The Mercury