Santaco, traffic authorities and Heineken launch drive to cut festive road fatalities

The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA), Heineken Beverages, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) have committed to coordinated festive season safety measures aimed at reducing road crashes and alcohol-related harm during December.

Held at the CGCSA offices in Sandton on Friday, the event saw the four entities meet and say together they directly influence road behaviour, alcohol access, commuter safety and on-the-ground enforcement visibility.

With an average of 1,550 road deaths involving vehicle-to-vehicle collisions and pedestrians during the festive period in the past few years, the country enters a precarious time for road safety, with increased traffic volumes and higher alcohol consumption causing elevated crash rates.

The entities came together to pledge festive season commitments, including:

• expanded consumer education on responsible drinking and safer road behaviour across retail and brand touchpoints;
• fatigue management and safer rank practices across the taxi industry, particularly on peak travel days;
• data-driven enforcement visibility by RTMC along high-risk routes identified through festive season crash and fatalities trends;
• retail compliance support to curb underage and irresponsible alcohol purchasing; and
• consistent safety messaging promoting the national call “Don’t Drink and Drive. Get Home Safely”.

Alcohol bingeing

Zinhle Tyikwe, host and CEO of CGCSA, said the organisation is committed to ensuring retail spaces adhere to safer and responsible alcohol purchasing behaviour during December, including curbing underage drinking that not only leads to unrelated infractions but also adds to pedestrian deaths during this high-risk time.

Tyikwe said alcohol bingeing has become a bigger problem than alcoholism, and South Africans should spend their holidays doing other pleasurable things rather than drinking, which generally leads to people getting behind the wheel intoxicated.

Full force

Law enforcement was represented by RTMC executive manager Mpho Makhatsho, who said the annual road death toll can contribute to a fiscal deficit of about R1bn.

For its part during the festive season, Mokhatsho said the RTMC and its many enforcement agencies, including collaborations with the South African Police Service, will be out in full force at many roadblock sites designed to not only arrest drunk drivers, but also to deploy safety awareness campaigns not limited to driver fatigue.

Heineken South Africa corporate affairs director Millicent Maroga said: “Road safety cannot be solved by one sector alone and the dialogue reflects shared commitment to encouraging responsible consumption, promoting safer behaviour and supporting the national call to ‘Don’t Drink and Drive. Get Home Safely.’”

Maroga highlighted the negative impact of the philosophy of “warning” others of roadblocks, which could see perpetrators aiding a drunk driver or a criminal to evade arrest.

Statistically incorrect

The taxi industry, which plays a major role in transporting millions of citizens, was represented by Santaco spokesperson Rebecca Phala. She said the festive season has seen the intensifying of the organisation’s Operation Hlokomela. The campaign, established in 2010, has trained owners and drivers about:

• the risks involved in overloading;
• maintenance of vehicles; and
• the importance of safety and being responsible for their passengers’ lives, comfort and dignity.

Phala said perceptions of the taxi industry being responsible for a major share of road deaths during the holiday season are statistically incorrect, and programmes including the monitoring of driver compliance have reduced the number of incidents involving members.

The partners will continue to collaborate during December, supporting increased enforcement visibility, consumer awareness campaigns and coordinated festive season safety activation countrywide.