Northern Cape MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison Nomandla Bloem at the provincial launch of the 2022 festive season Arrive Alive road safety campaign in Kuruman. Picture: Supplied
A TOTAL of 106 traffic and road safety officials will be deployed on Northern Cape roads during the 2022 festive season to ensure that all road users adhere to the rules of the road.
This is according to the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Nomandla Bloem, who launched the 2022 festive season Arrive Alive road safety campaign on the N14 in Kuruman on December 8.
Bloem said that multidisciplinary teams will be visible on the Province’s roads this festive season to ensure that road fatalities are minimised.
“The Safer Festive Season Arrive Alive campaign 2022 will proceed until the end of January 2023. Our operations will involve multidisciplinary teams and strategies tailor-made for this time of the year. Our broad operational plan and road safety education operations demand that all law enforcement officers and stakeholders be on the roads to ensure we achieve reductions in fatalities and accidents … with a zero-tolerance approach to lawlessness,” said Bloem.
“The objectives of this campaign are to reduce road crashes and fatalities, to focus on road safety education through maximising communication on enforcement and road safety issues and to promote good road user behaviour.”
Bloem said eight major routes, which have been identified as accident-prone routes, will be the central focus of this season’s campaign.
“We have identified eight critical, accident-prone routes and although we will be heightening operations along these routes, we are asking the public to consider every road in every corner of the Province as an area where an accident may occur,” said Bloem.
The eight major routes are:
R31 (Hotazel, Kuruman, Danielskuil, Barkley West and Kimberley);
N8 (Warrenton, Jan Kempdorp, Hartswater and Taung);
N12 (Kimberley, Warrenton, Modderrivier, Britstown and Three Sisters);
N14 (Kuruman, Kathu, Olifantshoek and Upington);
N8 (Groblershoop and Kimberley);
R385 (Olifantshoek, Postmasburg and Danielskuil;
N9 (Upington, Groblershoop, Britstown and De Aar); and
N1 (in the areas of Colesberg, Richmond and Three Sisters).
Bloem said that law enforcement officers will ensure that no traffic laws are violated. “Our operational focus will be on speeding, moving violations, tactical roadblocks with stakeholders, roadworthiness of public transport, stop-and-go checks, drunken driving, dangerous driving, fatigue and education and awareness.
“As per our analysis, we appeal to our road users to remain vigilant, especially on Thursday night until Friday morning and Sunday night until Monday morning, between 4pm and 2am.
“Although the Northern Cape’s accident statistics are consistently lower than the national average, we need to consciously drive operations in such a manner that we achieve a consistently lower number of crashes and fatalities every year,” Bloem concluded.