The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), is urgently calling for the nationalisation of traffic police officers under the Department of Transport, following the release of a mid-festive season safety report which showed a 3% increase in road fatalities since December 1.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has recently revealed that the mid-season festive road safety statistics showed an increase in fatal crashes and fatalities compared to the same period last year.

From December 2 to 15, the department recorded 439 fatal crashes nationwide resulting in the death of 512 people, a 3.1% and 2.6% increase, respectively.

The statistics revealed pedestrians remain the most vulnerable group, accounting for 45.6% of the fatalities, followed by passengers, drivers, and cyclists.

Meanwhile, Popcru’s president Thulani Ngwenya expressed concern about the working conditions and support for traffic officers during the festive season, given the surge in road traffic.

“Traffic officers play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of South Africa’s roads during one of the busiest and most dangerous periods of the year,” Ngwenya said.

“Yet, even as they stand ready to protect lives, they are already working with both hands tied behind their back, as severe organisational challenges and poor working conditions continue to hamper their effectiveness.”

Ngwenya said that although Creecy said her department would be implementing a 24-hour traffic policing and intensified law enforcement, particularly in high-risk routes zones, the shortage of traffic police officers and extreme working conditions may undermine the effectiveness of these measures.

“Simply implementing 24/7 traffic policing is not enough to deal with the issues on our roads. The government must also accelerate recruitment efforts to build capacity, and increase its focus on providing traffic police with essential tools of the trade – like working vehicles,” he said.

He said traffic police are grossly under-capacitated, and called on the government to avoid overburdening officers with excessive work hours.

“Traffic officers must receive proper and timely compensation for their efforts. The government has dragged its heels in the past, and some of our members have waited years to receive their overtime payments.

Ngwenya said such delays are ‘unacceptable and demoralising.’

“We will be watching closely to ensure that our members are treated with respect.”

The union also voiced concern about what it said was unlawful instructions from the Department of Transport.

“These actions are not compliant with the rules of engagement, and we will not adopt a ‘comply now and complain later’ mentality. Whatever the department is doing, it is unlawful,” Ngwenya said.

Ngwenya highlighted the critical issues facing traffic officers, including a fragmented command structure across provinces, and disparities in compensation and benefits.

“The current system, where command of traffic police is scattered across different provincial departments, creates chaos in coordination, and unfair and unequal working conditions.”

According to him, traffic police across various provinces have different salaries and benefits.

“Officers often relocate to provinces where conditions of service are more favourable, leaving other provinces with a severe lack of personnel.”

Ngwenya pointed to the recent deployment of 156 newly trained traffic officers in the Eastern Cape, as a positive step, but stressed that the need across all provinces remains vast.

“The reality is that as long as traffic officers are located within provincial departments with other primary mandates, traffic policing will not receive the necessary prioritisation or resource allocation,” he said.

He said in some provinces, traffic police are split between various departments and further complicating operations.

Ngwenya said Popcru is advocating for immediate reforms, including the nationalisation of traffic police under the Department of Transport, and creating a single, integrated line of command for improved strategic oversight.

“Standardised conditions of service would help prevent staff migration, and the union has demanded immediate action to fill vacancies, and provide proper tools and resources for officers to perform their duties safely and effectively,” Ngwenya added.

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Popcru calls for nationalisation of traffic police amid surge in road fatalities