Mandela legacy and South African national road safety

Mandela legacy and South African national road safety

by | Nov 10, 2023 | News & Blog

The inspirational story of President Nelson Mandela’s leadership in Africa has left a historical hallmark on international political action. His personal struggle as well as the political action for equality in South Africa has placed Mr Mandela as one of the most inspiring leaders worldwide. His personal association with road safety is rooted in tragic losses due to road crashes his foundation is implementing road safety solutions.

As we continue to celebrate the 93rd birthday of the beloved founding father of South African democracy, Nelson Mandela, it is worth pausing to reflect how many aspects of our lives mirror his.

In 1969, when Mr Mandela was serving life imprisonment on Robben Island, he received news that his eldest son Thembekile had been killed in a road crash. To add to the pain and loss, he was not allowed, as a “lifer”, to attend the funeral of his own son.

As a retired president, Mandela was to experience a similar loss last year when, as South Africa celebrated the opening of the Fifa World Cup, his great-granddaughter Zenani died tragically in a road accident.

Writing about the loss of his son in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela expresses the feelings of many today who have lost loved ones in road carnage when he said: “I do not have words to express the sorrow, or the loss I felt. It left a hole in my heart that can never be filled.”

On April 12 in London, we joined members of the Mandela family, represented by Zindzi and her daughter Zoleka, and the Commission for Global Road Safety to launch the Zenani Mandela Scholarship for Road Safety. The scholarship will contribute to the UN Decade of Action. We used the occasion to remind the world that while it is the living who close the eyes of the dead, it is the dead who must open the eyes of the living.

Launching the scholarship, Zoleka Mandela, the late Zenani’s mother, said: “A crash robbed me of my daughter – a beautiful, bright 13-year-old who was full of energy and hope for the future. I will never recover from this, nor will my family.

“My heart is already broken, but what makes this even worse is that so often road accidents are preventable. We must all support the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. It is our duty to end the suffering.”

The scholarship reflects the ethos and values of the Mandela family and Nelson Mandela Foundation in helping young people to make a difference to their own communities and society as a whole.The scholarship was established to inspire young leaders of South Africa to join a global movement, as represented by the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 to 2020, which aims to save millions of lives over the next 10 years.

The successful candidate is given the opportunity to learn, with and from other talented professionals from around the world, with the common aim of improving road safety, and to develop their expertise in all key aspects of road-safety management and policy-making for the communities of South Africa. The first recipient of the scholarship is Sianne Abrahams from Cape Town.

By all accounts, the death of about 1.3 million people every year on the world’s roads is fit to be described as an epidemic. By all accounts, the death of some 14 000 people every year, 1 000 people every month and no fewer than 40 people every day on South Africa’s roads must also be described as an epidemic.

On May 11, South Africa joined the rest of the world when we officially launched the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011 to 2020 in Boksburg. This Decade of Action for Road Safety is a global declaration of war against road accidents and fatalities.Unless we act now, we can predict that road accidents will become the leading cause of premature deaths and disabilities for children and young people.Fortunately, while we can predict, we can also prevent. We can save millions of lives with more commitment to road safety.

It is time for action.

Drunk driving is a major contributory factor to road crashes and road deaths in South Africa. It is for this reason that the Department of Transport is considering a total ban on alcohol use for drivers.

Since May, no fewer than 10 000 drivers have been being screened every month for drinking and driving.Other interventions include South Africa’s soon-to-be-implemented National Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan 2011 to 2020. The strategy will focus on better use of human and financial resources, across all spheres of the government, to address road deaths.

To achieve this, each province, each district municipality and each local municipality will report every month on the number of road accidents occurring in their area, what the causal factors were and how these were being addressed.As part of the Department of Transport’s long-term strategy to improve driver behaviour and competence, steady progress is being made towards ensuring that road safety education forms part of the life-skills curriculum at schools. This will ensure that every Grade 11 pupil will have a learner’s licence and every 18-year-old a driving licence.

The programme has already commenced at certain schools in Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.It is also in place at the University of Zululand and Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape.Road safety is not what you do to a community; road safety is what you do with a community. Therefore, community-driven road safety through community road-safety councils must become the primary driving force of this Decade of Action.

Our yardstick during this decade is going to be what communities are doing about road safety in their respective areas.A number of current road-safety initiatives that will continue include the National Traffic Intervention Unit launched in April, regular departmental meetings with traffic chiefs and licensing officials, as well as amendments to road traffic legislation.

The department will also host a summit, as part of the consultation process, ahead of the national rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act and the points demerit system, and will soon announce details on the provision of a more secure, tamper-proof driving licence card.

In a speech delivered in 2009, Madiba said: “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.” It is in this context that we call on South Africans to take action now and make every day a Nelson Mandela Day.l Sibusiso Ndebele is Minister of Transport.

Written by: Sibusiso Ndebele

CORE Group Vacancies Now Closed

CORE Group Vacancies Now Closed

by | Nov 10, 2023 | News & Blog

The deadline for the YOURS CORE Group is now closed. We have received an unprecedented amount of applicants and overwhelmed with the global response. All applicants have been informed of receipt of their application. We are now currently undertaking the shortlisting process for all applications. All applicants can expect to hear from YOURS by 19th August.

Everyone at YOURS are very excited at the unprecedented amount of applications received for the position of the CORE group, Co-ordinators of the Regions. We have received a huge amount of attention from around the world with numbers of applicants exceeding our expections. YOURS would like to thank all applicants who took time out to apply for this role.

Because of the amount of applicants, YOURS has set 19th August 2011 as the date for correspondence regarding shortlisting. You can expect to hear from us informing you whether you have been successful or not for the second phase of the application process. If successful for the second round, YOURS will be requesting additional information regarding your application with the possibility of an online interview if required.

While the date was officially closed on 31 July 2011, the overwhelming response to the role has seen us receiving applications past this deadline. While we welcome these applications into the process, we assure you that equal weighting and attention will be given to every application. Additionally, YOURS is considering keeping certain regions open to ensure we can attain a representative mix of applicants in these regions. More information about open regions (regions still open for applications) will be published in due course.

Finally, YOURS would like to offer gratitude to every applicant and organizations who helped spread the word about the CORE Group Vacancies. Applicants can expect to hear from us in due course and before 19th August 2011.

Spurs and Orlanda Pirates wear the Tag for Zenani and the Decade

Spurs and Orlanda Pirates wear the Tag for Zenani and the Decade

by | Nov 10, 2023 | News & Blog

In memory of Zenani Mandela and to raise awareness for the Decade of Action for Road Safety, Tottenham Hotspur and the Orlando Pirates wore the yellow road safety Tag on black armbands during their match on 19 July 2011 at Mbombela Stadium, South Africa.

Source: www.FiaFoundation.org

The yellow Tag for the UN Decade of Action is intended to serve as the ‘AIDS ribbon’ for road safety, unifying global support for the effort to save millions of lives on the world’s roads. The teams are wearing the Tag symbol on armbands in order to raise awareness for road safety and honour the memory of Zenani who was killed in a car crash on the eve of the 2010 World Cup. 

spurs match 2

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, the South African Department of Transport and independent charity the FIA Foundation are running the Zenani Mandela Scholarship for Road Safety, a UN Decade of Action initiative. The Scholarship was set up in Zenani’s memory to help train South African road safety professionals and also encourages road safety awareness raising activities to be carried out.

At the Mbombela Stadium where the match was being played, a film for the UN Decade of Action was shown at half-time. It featured Zoleka Mandela, mother of Zenani, calling for action on road safety in South Africa and around the world. Fans of both teams also wore the Tag during the game. After the match, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, 19 year old Karabo Lushaba, met the Spurs players for a photo session with the Decade Tag.

A range of sports stars, celebrities and high profile figures are wearing the yellow Tag and supporting the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. Inspiring figures to have given their support include former US President Bill Clinton, Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, musician and campaigner Sir Bob Geldof, and actress Michelle Yeoh.

In the world of sport others such as the Ghana national football team have previously worn the Tag while competing, notably during their match with England at Wembley in 2011. Tottenham Hotspur also raised awareness for the UN Decade of Action on 18th July in a Mandela Day initiative at their training session with Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, and representatives of the Mandela family.

Click here to watch the short Decade of Action film played at half-time >

Vacancies update: apply by 31st July for the CORE Group

Vacancies update: apply by 31st July for the CORE Group

by | Nov 10, 2023 | News & Blog

The recent announcement of vanacies at YOURS to join the new CORE Group – Coordinators of the Regions has generated a lot of interest. We have received applications from around the world, from Africa to India to the Mediterrenean to South America. But applications are not closed yet, to be in with a chance to be a CORE Group member, you still have more than a week to apply!

The deadline for the CORE Group Vacancies is 31st July 2011, this means that there is still lots of time left for you to apply if you are interested. While we have received a number of applications, all applications will be considered equally on based on their own merit and we expect to be receiving applications till deadline closure.

We are looking for Regional Coordinators in: 

  1.  African Region
  2. Eastern Mediterranean Region
  3. South and Middle Americas Region
  4. South East Asia Region
  5. Western Pacific Region

YOURS has been in contact with applicants who have applied to let them know applications have been received. If you have not received an confirmation email, your email may not have been sent or there was an error in the email. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 48 hours of submission, please contact Mr Manpreet Darroch for more details.

You can click on the links above to find out more information about the vacancy profile for each region. If you are intersted in applying but are unsure which region your country fits into, you can find out here. The links take you to our Vacancy Page, where you can find out how to apply.

Contract type: Volunteer
Duration: 24 months (1 August 2011 – 1 August 2013)
Date: 14 June 2011

YOURS is recruiting for the CORE Group! from YOURS on Vimeo.

Promo video focusing on YOURS’ new recruitment for Coordinators of the Regions. www.youthforroadsafety.org for more info!

Tune into Traffic: How road safety campaigns can be participatory

Tune into Traffic: How road safety campaigns can be participatory

by | Nov 10, 2023 | News & Blog

Tune into Traffic, UK is a campaign that is run by young people for young people; very much like YOURS. It’s content is entirely user generated and peer initiated which means young people themselves are the people responsible for creating its awareness medias and tools.

Tune into Traffic is a road safety campaign based in the United Kingdom that operated through a structure of inherent participation with young people. This means its is young people who make the decisions at the campaign and it is young people who work together to create road safety awareness tools and media to convey a message of road safety to other young people; their peers.

At Tune into Traffic, a trend has started to form; young people who have heard about the campaign have taken it upon themselves to do something. These young people are not necessarily engaged in the workings of the campaign but have been inspired to want to use their own skills to raise awareness about the information Tune into Traffic has conveyed to them. This illustrates that youth around the world; when empowered with knowledge about an important cause, will step up and do use their skills to make change to their desired cause, in this case, that is road safety.

This ‘doing something’ has manifested in various ways, people have put up the Tune into Traffic posters and leaflets up in their workplaces, schools and youth clubs but also, young people have used their talents to create their own media. One video created for Tune into Traffic was sent to the campaign central and featured an animated video of Tune into Traffic’s current campaign focus: young people distracted by music while on the road. A second video sent to the campaign was a short recorded video of a young person going about his morning routine, stepping out for his day while being distracted by music with fatal consquences.

This approach, where young people themselves take it upon their own selves to create media for road safety is an approach endorsed by YOURS; infact it was this approach that acted as the rationale behind the World Crossing Campaign whereby youth delegates around the world shot their own media for a larger project. When young people create messages themselves, using their own initiative, creativitiy and resources the result is very authentic and inspiring. This is why YOURS promotes this type of approach where young people take it upon themselves to use their own skills, talents and creative inquiry to create awareness tools that will educate their peers. People can use their own passions to make changes; this is how we can be truly peer-to-peer led.

You can view the user generated media on this page, the first is the animated video created by Brendan Lehane, the second is a short awareness video created by Ben Kammerling and the third is Tune into Traffic’s own earphone advert.

You can now share news from YOURS with one simple click!

You can now share news from YOURS with one simple click!

by | Nov 10, 2023 | News & Blog

YOURS has added extra functionality to our website giving you even easier tools to share our news stories with your collegues, friends and family on your social networking sites. This makes sharing road safety information simply a click of a button, easy and it raises awareness too!

As you will be able to see on the bottom of each of our news story pages; there is now a share button that allows you to share to ANY social network on the internet! We have the of course, the most popular sites; Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin but by clicking on the plus sign, you can share to Myspace, Care2, Blogster, Hotmail and hundreds more!

Now you can easily share road safety news with your contacts all over the internet! We think that this will help you raise awareness about road safety issues on your pages in a straight foward way. We encourage you to share news stories of interest on your pages such as Facebook and Twitter and let your friends know that you are serious about road safety! It is a very simple way to bring attention to our focus on youth and road safety issues!

Why not give it a try now? You can find the share button on every single news story. You can browse our news stories here and to share the story, simply click on the story of interest, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the social network you would like to share the story.

By doing this, you are helping YOURS to bring attention to global road safety and this sharing of information become truly peer-to-peer led with you, the website users sharing information yourself!