Traffic officers key to 2010 traffic flow

Traffic officers will be instrumental in ensuring the smooth flow of traffic in various host cities during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In this regard, it is important for the provinces and host cities to consider increasing the number of traffic officers in a quest to keep up with the anticipated traffic volumes.

With this in mind, the Mpumalanga provincial government is planning to boost its traffic law enforcement capacity.

Unveiling the provincial Arrive Alive campaign for Easter in Bushbuckridge Tuesday, MEC for Roads and Transport David Mabuza said there was a need to recruit 100 traffic officers every year in the next five years.

This, he explained, would help the province meet the expected traffic flow during the soccer event in 2010, as some matches would be hosted at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.

The province currently has 381 traffic officers, excluding those employed by municipalities, and needs an additional 741 officers to enhance its traffic law enforcement operations.

The challenge, however, is that the province depends on colleges outside the province to train traffic officers.

"The number of traffic officers we can recruit depends entirely on the number of available space in their colleges," he said.

Mr Mabuza said he had requested the traffic management unit in his department to explore other ways through which the number of traffic officers could be increased.

The department procured 32 high performance vehicles last year to increase the visibility of traffic officers on the roads.

With high traffic volumes expected on the roads this weekend, especially on the N4 highway, the MEC said law enforcement officers would conduct roadblocks and ensure visible patrolling to increase visibility on the roads.

Mr Mabuza said statistics have shown that 47 percent of all accidents and 60 percent of fatalities in the province took place during weekends, between Fridays and Sundays.

"The economically active group of people between the ages 20 and 44 accounts for 64 percent of the fatalities," he said.

He added an analysis of statistics on fatal accidents for Easter and the Festive Season in 2006 had shown that road accidents were mostly caused by drinking and driving; drinking, walking and speeding, among others.

Mr Mabuza said pedestrian safety remained a challenge in areas such as Bushbuckridge, Masoyi, Moloto and Embalenhle.

"This again becomes the area of concern for every road user to take road safety seriously," he said.

He also urged all road users to observe the traffic rules to curb carnages on the roads.