Johannesburg – The Automobile Association has questioned the replacement of former transport minister Dipuo Peters as part of this week’s cabinet reshuffle.
Peters was dismissed in favour of Joe Maswangwanyi, previously a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport, in a move that the association said left more questions than answers.
In particular, it said, the manner of the new minister’s appointment was unfortunate, coming as it did along with a number of new appointments that were openly politically motivated, rather than predicated on the good of their respective departments.
“Our first reaction is to ask why,” the association said. Despite notable challenges still facing the department, Peters had been making progress in cooperating with non-government transport and safety organisations to address the carnage on the country’s roads.
“Replacing her, without explanation, raises a red flag,” the AA said.
Key Challenges
The association said it was concerned that changing political leadership at the department of transport could lead to a loss of momentum in road safety initiatives.
The new minister must take seriously – and act decisively and swiftly on – the key challenges his department faced, it insisted, in particular a wholesale improvement in traffic law enforcement, moves to address road safety and the unacceptably high death toll on South Africa’s roads, and the proper rollout of the long-delayed Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences.