Buffalo City Metro launched its first road safety campaign in preparation for the festive season in partnership with SA Breweries in a roadblock in Qonce on Friday morning.
Also launched were a new state-of-the-art mobile alcohol testing centre and an additional mobile vehicle testing station in an effort to snag traffic offenders.
“The moment Christmas trees and colours are up, the mood of many of our residents gets hyped up and that should make us alert,” mayor Xola Pakati said.
“We have over the years been able to have more than 120 traffic officers with 64 vehicles and our famous automated number-plate recognition bus which can read and print traffic fines on the spot.
“As we speak now, high school learners are busy with their examinations and the moment they finish we are likely to see the pandemonium of the shameful ‘Pens-Down Parties’.
“One such party led to the mysterious deaths of underage children at the infamous Enyobeni Tavern in Scenery Park and we must commit ourselves that such will not happen in the coming festive season.”
Tinumzi Lubelwana, the SAB regional corporate affairs manager, said that the mobile testing centre was the company’s second investment in the city after launching the alcohol evidence centre in Braelyn.
Lubelwana said: “During the operation of the alcohol evidence centre we realised that the outlying areas are too far away.
“The mobile testing centre uses a breathalyser system — whatever results the machine finds can hold up in court and you can be held liable without drawing blood samples.”
Marius Van Der Westhuizen, group operations manager of Total Client Services, who provides the system used to capture and process traffic fines, said: “The traffic system is a crucial part in the management of all the processes at the traffic department to ensure people pay their traffic fines.
“The current payment rate is in the region of 27%— it sounds very low, but keep in mind the average across SA is as low as 6.2 %.
“Many municipalities don’t have traffic management systems. BCM is one of the leaders.”
He said that nearly 600,000 violations were captured in the system and hoped to increase this to 800,000 and bring a total of R120m to the municipality by November 2023 .
A roadblock was set up in Zwetisha to demonstrate the efficiency of the mobile testing station and the bus, and Pakati handed out safety packages of vests, calendars and energy drinks to drivers.
A passenger bus owned by the Mayibuye Transport Corporation was tested for its road safety and failed. According to the Mayibuye website, the corporation was placed under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Cape department of transport in 1994.
SAPS traffic commander Quintin Chetty said the bus had been immediately condemned as, on top of other issues, the brakes were faulty.
Chetty said: “The testing centre looks at vehicles’ road fitness, and this bus’s rear brakes, basically there were no brakes. We have taken between 30 and 40 vehicles off the roads daily.”
Chetty said the Test had been handled by a specialised examiner, who said the vehicle also had oil leaks, broken windows, was covered in rust and had been immediately failed.
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