New traffic officers for Mbombela in the New Year
Of the 161 graduates from the Mpumalanga Traffic College, 23 will join the City of Mbombela Local Municipality (CMLM) in January.
MKHUHLU – A total of 161 new officers graduated from the Mpumalanga Traffic College two weeks ago. Of the graduates, 23 will join the City of Mbombela Local Municipality (CMLM) in January. The municipality, which includes Mbombela, White River, Hazyview and Barberton, has 33 traffic officers.
According to research by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the City needs up to 492 officials to run at capacity. “The formula takes into account the number of traffic officers per registered vehicle, number of officers per population and number of officers per kilometre of road,” said the City’s spokesman, David Shabangu.
“CMLM acknowledged that the full deployment as per the recommendation of the study may not be realised easily as traffic functions must be balanced with our overall constitutional mandate to provide basic services and implement local development programmes,” he added.
It has since advertised 50 positions for interns to undergo training at the college next year. This, according to Shabangu, should increase the number of officers to 106 within the medium-term period. The remainder of the graduates are also expected bolster ongoing road-safety initiatives in their respective provinces, municipal areas and institutions.
Transport minister, Joe Maswanganyi bemoaned the reckless and negligent driving and disregard of regulations displayed by some motorists, especially during the festive season.
MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Pat Ngomane encouraged the new officers not to be enticed by bribes.
“You should demonstrate what you have learned at the college on the road and ensure that you contribute towards the reduction of unnecessary accidents,” he said
