Divine intervention for R24 road users

Due to the high number of road fatalities on the R24, the Tarlton Police and other stakeholders decided to hold a road safety prayer session on the R24.

According to a statement from the Tarlton Police’s spokesperson, Constable Lucky Matome, religious leaders, ward councillor Dikgang Sethole and management from the Tarlton Police Station gathered to pray. They convened near the Matshelapad informal settlement on the R24 and prayed.

“Road safety is not the sole responsibility of law enforcement agencies. It is the responsibility of all road users to ensure that they abide by the rules and regulations,” Matome said in his statement.

He went on to say that although the police are doing their best to enforce the law, there are still those who choose to not obey it, and unfortunately their disregard for the law and their actions sometimes have deadly consequences.

He explained that various road safety campaigns have been held to educate road users. These campaigns have apparently yielded positive results when it comes to the decline in road fatalities in the area.

“Our goal is to reach a point where no fatalities are reported as a result of change in behaviour,” he said.

On Sunday, 13 October, the community and police prayed together and although congregants came from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds they were all singing and praying with one voice, according to Matome.

He went on to say that these road safety campaigns are also aimed at shaping the attitudes and behaviours of children and young adults.

“We want to ensure that they become responsible drivers, as it is always difficult to deal with drivers who somehow obtain their driver’s licences through corrupt ways. Such drivers are one of many contributing factors,” he explained.

He said the police discourage anyone who seeks to illegally obtain a driver’s licence as that constitutes an offence that is punishable by the state.