Bokone Bophirima Premier Supra Mahumapelo called on churches in the province to pray for safety on the roads and streets of the province for this festive season.
Addressing more than 2000 people gathered at the launch of the 2014 festive Arrive Alive and Operation When Duty Calls held in Mahikeng over the weekend, Mahumapelo said the province experiences lot of accidents which lead to fatalities and the high number of crimes during festive seasons. He said safety is everyone’s responsibility and prayers from churches would assist in reduction of crimes and fatalities.
“We need our churches, road users and the public in general to partner with us in the fight against crime and road accidents during the festive season. Government alone cannot win this battle, but safety begins with an individual and our corporation on the roads and the streets of the province. We need to be patient to each other on the road and further report any criminal activity in our communities,” said Mahumapelo.
Community Safety and Transport Management MEC Gaoage Molapisi appealed to motorists to ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy and adhere to the road rules.
“Our recent analysis for the period of five years shows that most of the contributory factors to the loss of lives on our roads was due to reckless and negligent driving, over speeding , drunken driving and unroadworthy vehicles.
Driver fatigue and bad driver behavior have taken a lead during festive seasons and we are here to advocate for your corporation on our road and compliance,” pleaded Molapisi.
MEC said the department had a successful October Transport Month where a number of operations were successfully held and expressed his gratitude for the corporation from motorists and road users.
“A total number of 96 roadblocks were conducted across the province during the transport month and 12 9 73 taxis, 620 buses, 9 196 trucks were stopped and checked by our dedicated law enforcement officers and found 315 taxis with passenger overload, 105 wrong routes, 360 without operating permits.”
MEC said one taxi driver was arrested for drunken driving while loading passengers.
“These are offenses that we would not allow on our roads. We are not going to tolerate any wrong doing on our roads and streets during this festive season and all those found on the wrong side would face the full might of the law,” warned Molapisi.
Provincial Police Commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo said this year’s operational plan on Arrive Alive and Operation When Duty Calls is a clarion call on active citizenry in the fight against crime.
Commissioner Mbombo also made an appeal to members of the community to be responsible for their safety.
“Police and all other security forces we can never win the fight against crime on our own, we need our community to participate and take control of their safety. Communities must be responsible for their safety by reporting crime,” she said.
Premier Mahumapelo and MEC Molapisi accompanied by Commissioner Mbombo engaged with commuters and long distance taxi drivers at the Brandfort Park taxi rank in Mahikeng where they advocated for road safety and good behavior during the season.
Ms Sarah Mandlathe of Mocoseng village raised a concern on the usage of drugs by young people. She appealed to both Premier and MEC to intervene and to make an intensive investigation on those who supply drugs to young people.
Meanwhile, the Jaws Traffic Unit in the province with the assistance of the Hawks team successfully recovered trucks that were delivered by the Gauteng to Mahikeng taxi driver who was just given a well raped parcel to deliver to a certain man in Mahikeng who was later arrested.
Responding to number of challenges raised by the commuters and Mahikeng residents during the interaction, Premier Mahumapelo said the much talked about Setsokotsane will address socio economic issues in the province.
He said the programme will be roll out throughout the province and will be strengthened from time to time to speedup service delivery in Bokone Bophirima.
Setsokotsane Programme is aimed at accelerating service delivery to people of Bokone Bophirima. The programme was launched last month in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, and has thus far reached various wards in Mahikeng, Ditsobotla Local Municipalities.
In implementing the Programme’s objectives, government resources are pulled together in an effort to eradicate poverty and create opportunities for local people to improve their lives.
-TDN
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