Government should focus on pedestrian safety, not paperwork

Almost half of all road deaths, according to the Road Traffic Management Authority, are pedestrians. Almost two-thirds occur in Joburg, Pretoria, Ekurhuleni, Durban and Cape Town. Picture: iStock The government’s ongoing clampdown on undocumented foreign immigrants also comes with talk of draconian punishments for individuals who employ staff in their homes if they don’t check their new hires’ papers.

The uncharitable might consider it statist overreach, while more sanguine observers might regard it as an evolved form of the increasingly overused public-private partnerships that are being touted from Aggeneys to Zinkwazi as a wonderful panacea to all manner of service delivery failure. The reality though is that South Africans are increasingly being asked (compelled?) to maak n plan – whether it is clearing public spaces and maintaining public facilities in Johannesburg suburbs, or joining medical aids and putting in solar. Just how the average householder will be able to detect proper papers from fake ones remains to be seen.

Why doesn’t the government make it mandatory, instead, for pedestrians to wear reflective gear on the roads? In Johannesburg especially, there are great unlit patches at night, especially in the suburbs, with pedestrians flitting like wraiths onto and off pavements because of the city council’s inability to keep the lights on. Pedestrians are difficult to see and it’s impossible where there is no ambient light from businesses or shops.

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In Mozambique, it’s mandatory to have high visibility vests or jackets – like the ones the Johannesburg Metro Police Department wear at cool drink roadblocks – in every car, but us? Why doesn’t the government pass a law making it mandatory for every pedestrian to wear reflective gear? Why aren’t companies – and homeowners – compelled to issue their staff with reflective gear?

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