The Tshwane community gathered on Thursday, 02 November 2017 on the R80 Mabopane highway for their 5th annual spiritual intervention and road safety campaign. This follows the huge number of accidents and deaths that take on road every year. The gathering was attended by different churches, Road Accident Fund, NGOs, taxi associations, business sectors and the MMC for environment and agriculture in Tshwane.
Community activist and organizer, John Molepo said that he was happy about the outcomes of the prayers that they hold on the road annually. "I am very delighted because since we have started this initiative, the number of deaths has been reduced," said Molepo.
"This time last year we had 304 accidents, this year November we have only 249."
Molepo said that the best outcome of the campaign would be to see lesser accidents on the Mabopane highway. He added that the behavior of the motorists is still a challenge. "We have since been calling for the visibility of traffic officers on the road and we still wish to see the behavior changing," he said.
Mckeed Mogale, chairperson of the Soshanguve Taxi Owners Association (Sotoa) said that it was unfair that all the blame should be put on taxi drivers. "The road is not used by the taxi drivers only, every motorist should be responsible and follow the rules and regulations of the road," Nogale said.
"We are only blames because we carry a large number of passengers."
Mogale said that it was important that the passengers work together with them to ensure that the taxi drivers are responsible on the roads. He said: "We cannot know that our taxi drivers are reckless unless they are reported. Our passengers do not want to report the taxi drivers that are reckless on the roads."
MMC for environment and agriculture in Tshwane, Michael Mkhari encouraged the community members to work together in putting a stop to the accidents. "It is important for us to hold hands and educate each other. The message is being spread but numbers are increasing, we have to make sure that we minimize the number of deaths," he said.
A moment of silence was held and candles were lit as a sign of remembering those who have lost their lives on the Mabopane high way.
