Cape Town - More than 17 000 people were killed in road deaths in South Africa every year, Western Cape MEC for transport and public works Donald Grant said during a World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims commemorationat the Mandela Park Stadium in Khayelitsha on Sunday.
Grant said: “As we remember the very many that have lost their lives on our roads, let us recommit ourselves to being safe and responsible road users who are mindful of the serious consequences that reckless and irresponsible road use has on our roads.
“More than 17 000 people are killed per annum. The human tragedy is staggering – the economic cost is crippling.”
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In the Western Cape, 40 percent of road deaths were pedestrians, Grant said, making it imperative that policy makers went back to the drawing board to rethink ways of how pedestrians and vehicles share the road.
“This year’s theme for the event is ‘It’s time to Remember – Say NO to Road Crimes’,” he added. “This is a call to action on all of us to be part of the solution to this growing pandemic and to ensure that our behaviours as individuals do not make us part of the problem”
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By the end of 2015 year more than one million people will have been killed on the roads globally.
“The World Health Organisation’s Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015, released in October, states that some 1.25 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes,” said Grant.
“Each death represents a father, brother, sister, son and daughter; a senseless loss of potential, the effects of which continue to tear families apart each day. Road deaths have already eclipsed malaria as a global killer and it won’t be too long before they surpass TB and Aids.”
Grant said this was a “global traffic injury pandemic”.
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1.25 million die on roads each year
Statistics received by the MEC’s office from Adrian Gore, chief executive for Discovery, showed that if road deaths decreased by 30 percent, the country’s gross domestic product would increase by 1.5 percent.
South African National Taxi Council spokesman, Bafana Magagula, said more than 300 taxi drivers and owners attended the event.
He said: “We knew that this was an important event with an important message. The MEC came himself to deliver the message.
“It showed people how seriously he takes the issue.”
Meanwhile, there were nine fatalities on Western Cape roads over the weekend, including three passengers who were killed in a car crash in Plattekloof on Saturday.
Traffic chief Kenny Africa said the fatalities occurred in Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Kuils River and Noordhoek.
Magagula cautioned road users to be alert at all times when on the road.
He said: “Drive carefully; don’t drink, text and drive, obey the rules. Also, pedestrians, don’t drink and walk - it is not safe.”