The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison to submit its mitigation plan to address the ongoing shortage of provincial traffic officials and its knock-on-effect on road safety, to the legislature’s portfolio committee.
The Northern Cape was among six provinces that recorded increases in the 2024/2025 festive season fatalities. This recurring trend is not surprising given the critical shortage of provincial traffic officers to regulate our roads and the department’s failure to manage and implement efficient mitigation plans successfully.
The department must account for the dismal pass rate amongst the recent intake of traffic trainees, with only 16 out of 49 trainees making the grade. This is negatively impacting the department’s commitment to bolster the understaffed, 113-member provincial traffic service with an additional 64 traffic officials by January 2025.
It is unfortunate that we have still not received feedback from communication sent to the department regarding the selection criteria and qualifications of all candidates selected for the training. We also want to know what the budgetary implications will be for the 68% of students who failed to successfully complete their course.
The failure of these traffic trainees comes at a great cost to road safety and the department’s purse. We have reported our further concerns regarding the programme to the AG’s office and will monitor the funding allocated towards the double intake of the trainees to ensure a higher pass rate and safer roads in the Northern Cape. We will also continue to push for answers from the department and hold it accountable until the Northern Cape receives its full quota of traffic officials.