South Africa would be a country based on ubuntu only when this became manifest on the roads, Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele said on Wednesday.
Ndebele was speaking after nine taxi passengers burnt to death and four others were injured when their vehicle collided with a truck Braemar, KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday.
“As South Africans, we pride ourselves as a nation built on ubuntu, the spirit of humanness and consideration for others,” Ndebele said in a statement.
“However, South Africa will only become a country based on the principles of ubuntu when it is manifest on the roads. The duty to ensure safety on our roads is everybody’s business.”
He said the transport department had already sent a team of accident investigation and reconstruction specialists to the scene to help investigate the crash.
Ndebele said the implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) started at the beginning of April, in an attempt to make roads safer.
“The current traffic law enforcement system is not effective and, if we want to stop counting bodies on the roads every day, we have to change it.” – Sapa
