The month of October was a significant month for the Department of Community Safety and Department of Transport as it marked transport month. The Department of Community Safety, community stakeholders, and Pastor Mpembe from Grace Bible Church, to name a few, conducted an awareness campaign in road and traffic safety at Orange Farm Drieziek Taxi Rank.
Community members came together to provide solutions for road safety in South Africa, and different churches participated in the campaign as they prayed for the safety of motorists in the road considering the festive season approaching. “The purpose of the campaign was to celebrate transport month and again we had a memorandum prepared for taxi association OFUTA to address challenges and issues we are facing on the road, considering how taxi drivers behave on the road and motorists being harassed by them,” said Maxwell Setai Chairperson of Sonke Bonke @ Work Community Traffic Flow and Safety (SBW).
The memorandum stipulates the challenges faced by community members including the harassment of motorists and the risky behaviour in the road. However, the SBW complained about the lack of support they are receiving from the Department of Community Safety.
Setai added, “We are not satisfied about the support we receive from the department and they would send their representative to come to our campaigns yet they never support us with resources, as we also promote road and traffic safety.”
Furthermore, community members were able to distribute pamphlets to local motorists and educate people about road safety and the importance of road safety.
The memorandum handed over to the OFUTA is currently being reviewed and deliberated by the taxi association, and they advised that the response would be released before the end of last week.
