Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga. Picture: Supplied by PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa)
Durban — Recruits from KwaZulu-Natal could be a part of the Department of Transport’s national programme aimed at increasing the number of traffic officers.
With the elections on May 29, the government is suddenly addressing the unemployment crises in South Africa.
The official unemployment rate was 31.9% in the third quarter of 2023. The results of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) indicate that the number of employed persons increased by 399 000 to 16.7 million in the third quarter of 2023 compared with 16.3 million in the second quarter of 2023.
Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga is expected to address hundreds of young people who aspire to be traffic officers at Boekenhoutkloof Traffic College, in Pretoria, on Wednesday.
Chikunga said this is the culmination of a national recruitment drive undertaken by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) in line with the National Development Plan vision to reduce unemployment and create job opportunities for the youth, women and the disabled.
“Youth nationwide have been called as part of the government's training programme to opportunities offered at the newly refurbished centre of excellence in traffic training, west of Tshwane,” she said.
Last year, the RTMC deployed 250 new traffic officers nationwide in efforts to enforce road laws and ensure that drivers obey the rules of the road.
Back then RTMC spokesperson, Simon Zwane, said depending on the operational requirements, traffic officers were deployed in areas of high need to assist in bringing down the number of road accidents.
Under the Norms, Standards and Compliance Unit, the primary function of the National Traffic Police Unit is to provide for co-ordination, planning, regulation and facilitation of traffic law enforcement in respect of road traffic matters by national, provincial and local spheres of government. This is done by ensuring driver and vehicle fitness, freight and public transport, dangerous driving, intoxicated driving, pedestrian enforcement, and overloading control, among others.
Furthermore, the unit co-ordinates and harmonises standards and compliance through the three spheres of government and within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in National Road Traffic and Transport Law enforcement through SADC Protocol Chapter 5 & 6 and, Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements.
The SADC Protocol Chapter 5 & 6 and Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements relate to the enforcement of Cross Border Road Transport Offences by monitoring of all ports of entry, commercial and non-commercial border posts throughout the country.
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