Limpopo Road Safety Officials Convene in Polokwane to Set Strategy Priorities

Sixty-seven delegates recently gathered in Polokwane for a Limpopo Road Safety Programme (LRSP) Strategy Workshop organised by the Impact Catalyst, on behalf of funding partner, the Anglo American Foundation. The workshop aimed to develop a shared vision for Limpopo's road safety strategy, prioritising the reduction of pedestrian and road fatalities.

According to Carole Mitzi, a member of the LRSP project team, the Limpopo Province has several existing policy documents, frameworks, and programmes addressing road safety. A common thread in these initiatives is the importance of clear planning, coherent systems, and an improved crash data reporting system. Key challenges identified in Limpopo include the overloading of heavy vehicles, conducting road safety campaigns, maintaining roads, and investing in automated traffic controls.

"We reviewed traffic and incident data from 2018 to 2022 provided by the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety (LDTCS), Road Agency Limpopo (RAL) and the Road Traffic Managment Corporation (RTMC). From this information, we learnt which routes in the Limpopo Province have high traffic volumes and high incident rates."

According to the 2022 data, high-volume roads in Limpopo include the N1 and N11. Truck traffic is particularly concentrated along the N1 towards Beit Bridge, the northern areas of Limpopo towards Zimbabwe, and the western areas influenced by mining activity.

Mitzi also highlighted that data from 2018 to 2022 shows high incident areas in Polokwane, along the N1, Thohoyandou, Sekhukhune, and the Mopane district, which is becoming a concern.

"While the severe incidents could be attributed to various factors, this data helps us focus the Limpopo Road Safety Strategy to reduce accidents and fatalities."

Delegates at the workshop discussed what an effective strategy for Limpopo Province should include. Victor Couto, a senior representative from Anglo American Platinum, commented: ?"We need to avoid designing another strategy. Instead, we should identify key priorities. What are the top three priorities to achieve “zero fatalities”? Once agreed, we must align and move collectively towards implementation."

Guided by the six pillars of the United Nations Decade of Action (UNDoA) for Road Safety (2021-2030) - road safety management, safer road infrastructure, vehicle safety, road user behaviour, post-crash response and speed management, which is the sixth pillar recently added - the delegates discussed achievable goals for Limpopo before 2030 and long-term strategic actions.

At the forefront of the discussion were matters relating to prioritising cost-sharing for infrastructure development and maintenance of roads before 2030 target. Another participant emphasised the balance between safe road use and speed management.

"If we want the biggest impact quickly, we must focus on ensuring safe road use and addressing speed management. Behaviour contributes to over 80% of fatalities and accidents. Investing in more cameras and increasing the visibility of traffic officials will encourage safer road use."

Other high-priority interventions identified during the workshop included, potential introduction of low-speed zones in schools and residential areas, consideration of regulated driving hours for public transport and heavy vehicles, demarcation and signage for dedicated emergency lanes, rest stops and potentially camps for trucks between towns and clear demarcation for separate lanes for buses and taxis.

"The high-priority interventions identified outlined what needs to be tackled before 2030 and also helped streamlined the road safety strategy for the Limpopo Province. Once finalised, we hope to inculcate behaviour and attitude changes towards road safety among community members and school learners. The long-term goal is to reduce injuries and fatalities," emphasised LRSP Programme Manager, Dr Jonathan James.

Several Limpopo Provincial departments, agencies and public organisations were represented at the workshop such as: the South African Police Service (SAPS), South African Road Safety Partnership (RSP-SA), South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMO), De Beers Group, Anglo American Platinum and the Road Agency Limpopo (RAL), to name a few.?

Each of these representatives are part of the co-creation process of the Limpopo Road Safety Strategy which will be refined and discussed in future work groups.? The final strategy will be owned by the Limpopo Province and measured according to the UNDoA pillars.