MEC promotes school debates on safety
Debate by high school learners focus on issus of safety
LYDENBURG – “Children between 18 and 20 years lack mature judgement, are easily influenced by the media and cause immature children on our roads. I therefore believe drivers licenses for these ages should be revoked” (sic).
These were the words of Balungile Radebe that silenced the house when she stepped on stage, opening the floor of the Provincial Road Safety Debate that was held on Saturday.
The debate was aimed at teaching learners road safety in an interactive approach and to advance their points of view about safety of road users and was organized by the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison.
According to the Department the project was initiated in 2004 after road accident statistics showed that al least 40% of fatalities that occurred, involved young people aged between 0-25.
“Road Safety Debates are dedicated to young road users who use the roads as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, novice drivers and passengers and I belief that the knowledge that these young leaders have about road safety would assist the province in its quest to reduce road accidents” MEC, Vusi Shongwe, said.
Shongwe was impressed by the knowledge the learners possessed and it seemed as if a bright future was winking for some of these learners.
It was getting hotter in the house by the second as these learners debated on motions such as pedestrian safety, traffic law enforcement, effectiveness of traffic regulations, effectiveness of road safety, AARTO and other road safety related motions, but in the end it was five learners who won themselves a life time opprtunity of debating at national level.
Hazel Nkosi, Zanele Ngwenya, Bongiwe Gambu, Thabo Malekane and Felicity Mhlogo will represent the province at this year’s National Road Safety School debates that will be held in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape from 25 to 26 September.
“Young people are the future of the country and their future as well as the future of generations is in their hands today,” Shongwe concluded.
