Gauteng MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo, has concluded a successful road-safety partnership with bikers and cyclists at a two-day workshop held on 7th-8th March 2020.
The partnership provides a common platform for motorbikers, cyclists and the Provincial Government to promote road safety and address key challenges faced by these stakeholders.
The workshop, held under the theme of Growing Gauteng Together Through Smart Mobility, focused on reducing road fatalities, promoting smart road-use culture as well as smart road network that protects all road-users. This includes construction of designated lanes, de-congesting and de-polluting the road-network by promoting cycling and biking as alternative modes of transport as this is critical for economic growth and positive investor confidence in Gauteng province.
“This weekend has been an eye-opener for us. I am very pleased that both the cycling and biking fraternities are ready to be counted amongst those who want to make a difference. We need more road users to promote smart mobility in our province and to change mindsets and behaviour on the road,” said Mamabolo.
“My biggest home take is that road-users across the board share the same frustrations and experiences on terrible and extremely poor road-use culture that borders on aggression, rudeness, intolerance and complete contempt and disregard for each other’s right to use the road,” added MEC Mamabolo.
The MEC announced that the department, together with the cycling and motorbiking community, would hold joint road safety programmes and that other modes of transport should be roped in to join the cause as road safety is the responsibility of every individual road user.
INFO SUPPLIED.
