Plan to cut road deaths

The Transport Department has honoured former president Nelson Mandela by awarding a road safety scholarship in his great-granddaughter's name.

The Zenani Mandela road safety scholarship was awarded to Sianne Abrahams, 29.

Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele said at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit that the scholarship was meant to inspire young leaders to join a global movement to reduce road fatalities, a reality that directly affected Mandela.

His eldest son, Madiba Thembekile, 24, died in 1969 in a car accident. Zenani, 13, his great-granddaughter, died after the opening ceremony of the soccer World Cup last year.

"Road deaths have indeed, like the global icon that is Mandela, become a global phenomenon. The struggle to end road deaths has now become a matter for international solidarity," Ndebele said.

Abrahams, the first recipient of the scholarship established in April, attended the Global Road Safety Programme in London at the start of this month.

She said she felt honoured to be chosen to attend the training and intended to carry on the legacy of the Mandela name.

"My first focus will be on reducing pedestrian fatalities, which account for about 40% of total road deaths. I will also look at educating the youth," she said.

Ndebele said road safety education was the responsibility of all citizens. "We all have the potential to make a difference in our own small way; however insignificant it may seem to us."

The scholarship is being co-ordinated by the Paris-based Federation Internationale de l'Automobile foundation and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.