Dear Madam,
It is with a huge degree of frustration and desperation with which I write this letter. If past experience is anything to go by I will not expect the courtesy of an answer,or even an acknowledgement, however I would be happy just to have you read and take note of the concerns expressed.
I have served the South African Government in one form or another since 1986, rising to the rank of a Deputy Director in a Provincial Department of Transport, so I think I can safely say I speak with some degree of experience in the matter, and in particular in the road transport field. I have served in both a uniform capacity as well as a managerial appointment. As a civil servant it was always my policy and that of my colleagues that we serve the government of the day, and in so doing served the people of South Africa. It is my considered opinion that I would be remiss in my duty if the following was not brought to your attention.
If one has regard to the National Departments dismal performance over the last few years, one sees glaring, obvious and hugely costly mistakes, mistakes that can only be described as shameful, dangerous and wasteful with regards our precious resources. Our appalling accident rate is by far the most glaring indictment.
Lets begin with road traffic, the “Arrive Alive” campaign, “road safety" is a tired old war horse that gets dragged out every festive season, and the net result is, even more people die each and every year!! At what point do we decide that maybe just maybe we are approaching this whole thing wrong? The old adage speed kills, I have news for you madam Minster, speed does not kill, it's the sudden stop that kills people, I know that this sounds trite and perhaps a little condescending, and I am by no means making light of the issue, but what stops vehicles, all vehicles are brakes!!!! It is common cause that the average age of the South African fleet is over 10 years old. This being said, perhaps next time you are attending a road block with the usual expansive media coverage, perhaps you could take the time to see how 20 year old plus Nissan E20’s are still being used as public transport.
How on earth are these vehicles remotely roadworthy, let me be the first to tell you since your own staff clearly will not, the operators bought their certificates of roadworthiness. A practice which is rife and flourishing, and dare I say growing, while the National Government sits back and does nothing. This applies not only to public transport but also unuscupouls freight operators. So right at the very beginning i.e. the vehicle we already have a problem. Corrupt vehicle testing stations issue certificates for as little as R600, to a vehicle which is not even presented for a test, and these Vehicle Testing Stations operate with seeming impunity no matter how much evidence is presented to your office. Please feel free to ask the Director Enforcement Regulation for the information and see for yourself.
Hardly a week goes by without some report in the media of the corruption rife in the law enforcement community and this includes the issuing of drivers licensing. R800 buys one a B category licence, and R2500 buys one an EC licence.So drivers are the next problem, so let me see if I get this right, an unroadworthy vehicle, driven by a driver who purchased his or her licence, is expected to obey the rules of the road? Madam Minster if you believe this then perhaps you also believe that the locomotives your department bought actually fit too, and that SAA is a profitable enterprise.
As this letter is intended not only to bring the above to your attention, but also to perhaps try and assist in alleviating the problem, herewith my humble thoughts on the matter. Firstly with regards the vehicles, the only way proven internationally is to introduce periodic vehicle testing or PVT as it is know as world wide, however currently this is pointless and will only serve to make corrupt Vehicle Testing Stations richer, so Madam Minister perhaps if I could be so bold as to ask that all the information sent regarding these, actually be dealt with. Your Department has conveniently side stepped dealing with the issue, and now made it industries problem with its proposal to police itself, which is much like asking a lion not to eat you simply because you chose not to eat him. Even the Acting Chief Director Land Transport Regulation has admitted publicly I may add “that he has failed dismally to address the issue”. Yet in the very next breath excludes industry from assisting Government in helping to solve the issue, by banning them from any of the National meetings.
If you could possibly point to one area where “self regulation” has actually worked in a Road Traffic environment I would be most grateful. Further perhaps while you are there consider the appointment of the SABS as the “Inspectorate of Vehicle Testing Stations”, a typical audit takes 2 hours , and consists of checking the calibration certificates, and a quality assurance manual, not once in my experience has the actual output, i.e. a road worthy vehicle been checked, as part of the audit.Further their recommendations to the relevant MEC’s are largely ignored, in some Provinces in any event.
With regards the illegal drivers licences being sold wholesale, let me be the very first to tell you that the sum total of the National departments commitment in terms of man power to police this issue is 5 people, 5 who spend the majority of their time checking that the facilities at the various drivers licence centres country wide are marked correctly. Perhaps a vigorous policing and jail time for offenders might prove to be a deterrent.However the perpetrators are not going to catch themselves. So you may want to consider actually refocusing what man power you do have towards actually addressing the more pressing issue.
I do hope that the above gives you some food for thought, and perhaps we can expect the National Department to take the lead in addressing the issues, which affect us all each and every day.
Kind Regards
Mr Kim Hugh Lee
