South Africa

Country Summary

Evidenced Based Programming

In 2010, the Global Road Safety South Africa (GRSP ZA) encouraged road safety practitioners to include an element of evaluation to measure their impact. The evidenced based programme model will contribute to the Decade of Action objective of reducing and stabilizing road fatalities, and it has been implemented in two member initiatives: the Non Motorized Transport Initiative and the Chevron Road Safety Visible Pedestrian Programme which will be implemented in 2011.

Red Cross Peer Educator Manual

GRSP ZA helped bring together the South African Red Cross (SARC), Child Safe, the Directorate of Road Safety Management (Western Cape), City of Cape Town Police and the Road Traffic Management Corporation, using their  expertise for a road safety training manual. It was developed for peer educations, who will promote road safety in their communities. The SARC peer educators began implementation, and in 2011 they will develop activities and case studies to accompany the manual.

I-WALK-TO-SCHOOL

The I-WALK is an annual event where schools around the world promote walking in order to raise awareness on the issues surrounding the journey to/from school. It also provides an opportunity for students to practice road safety principles as a pedestrian. In South Africa, the there are 9 million children who walk to school every day - 3 million walk for more than an hour a day. See how GRSP ZA was involved by visiting the website: www.iwalktoschool.org

“Buckle Up. We don’t want new members!”

The QuadPara Association implemented their annual “Buckle Up. We don’t want new members!” campaign. The Association is an organization that provides services and support for quadriplegics and paraplegics. In 2010, the campaign employed an average of 42 Association members during festive seasons when traffic volume increases. Teams worked at gas stations, engaging drivers in conversation and asking them to sign pledge to use their seat-belt while driving.

Childsafe Traffic Safety Poster

Childsafe developed a “Travelling Safely” poster that promotes safe practices in/around traffic, specific to each child development stage. The materials are based on information from the Red Cross children trauma database, and the poster describes good behaviours for caregivers. The poster will be used for skills development courses in Early Childhood Centres, schools, with health workers and community based organisations. GRSP ZA has helped this initiative by providing corporate donor interest for the Travelling Safely programme. However, more funding is required for the successful distribution of these posters across South Africa.

Non Motorized Transport Initiative

GRSP ZA together with the SARC and the University of Cape Town conducted in-depth research on travel routes for child pedestrians within hazardous locations. The actual use of the routes supervised by peer educators from the SARC provided a platform where teachers, parents and community stakeholders recognised the needs of the child pedestrians as they travelled to and from school. This initiative has gained the support of the Department of Education and will also be presented at the South African Transport Conference in 2011. For more information: http://youtu.be/oKA3PNzZwkI

It’s great because it gives us the opportunity to make ourselves extinct.

– Ari Seirlis, national director, QuadPara Association, a GRSP ZA Partner