Twenty traffic officers graduate from Gene Louw Traffic College

Statement by Donald Grant, Minister of Transport and Public Works

I should firstly like to extend my sincere thanks to the team at Gene Louw Traffic College and our Transport Management branch for the work that they do and for the invitation to be a part of today’s proceedings.

We are gathered here today to celebrate the achievement of our newly graduated traffic officers who have shown commitment and dedication to traffic law enforcement, and have proved themselves worthy of donning our much-respected blue uniform.

Now in its now 28th year of existence, the Gene Louw Traffic College continues to be a centre of excellence in the training of traffic officers. This College is a great source of pride for our department as it has received wide acclaim for the tremendous work that is done here.

At the core of the work done at the College is a commitment to our on-going strategy aimed at improving service delivery and  promoting and supporting the professional training interventions which are provided to our Authorised Officers. Our Authorised Officers are to be found within Provincial, Local Authority Traffic Services and Private Testing Stations across the Province and at times beyond our borders.

Earlier this year, I was here with you to celebrate another milestone for the college, the launching of the e-Learning platform, which is set to revolutionize the training of traffic officers in South Africa. It is in keeping with the Western Cape Government’s transversal good governance approach adopted as part of our Provincial Strategic Goals.

By now we all know that e-Learning, which has been identified by the Premier as one of the Western Cape’s Game Changers, aims to enhance teaching and learning using the latest in information technology. I look forward to seeing this initiative grow from strength to strength in the years to come.

The 20 officers whose success we celebrate here today are a testament to the outstanding work and dedication exhibited by our Traffic Training and Development directorate. The new officers are the product of a twelve month training program that saw a 100% successful completion rate. This is an achievement you should all be incredibly proud of.

Our newly graduated officers have followed a year- long FETC qualification based on the completion of 30 unit standards. The traffic officer qualification was based on an outcomes-based approach, covering both theoretical and practical aspects.

In the last six months of their training, the officers participated in practical law enforcement interventions over weekends to give them more practical exposure and hands-on insight into the different aspects of traffic law enforcement.

They have also been exposed to:

• The completion of section 56, 341, and 44 notices (issuing citations),
• Making arrests,
• Impounding public transport vehicles,
• And speed enforcement.

The officers were also deployed to the various weighbridges in the Metro region to gain exposure to overload control and dangerous goods vehicles.

This practical exposure has been in invaluable part of their training which will put them in great stead as they head out to serve and protect the citizens of the Western Cape; a service they I have no doubt they will render with the upmost pride and professionalism.

As today’s graduates begin their careers as traffic officers, we already know that 15 of them will be deployed throughout the province at various Provincial Traffic Centres as far as Mossel Bay in the East and Vredendal in the North West.  Five officers from local authorities will also embark on their new careers at Overstrand and Theewaterskloof municipalities and we wish them all the best.

The Western Cape Government prides itself on being the leading province in so far as developing best practices, particularly in the field of traffic law enforcement and officer training. We will continue to employ bold and innovative approaches towards continually improving the services that we render to the citizens of the Western Cape.

I should like to wish the Gene Louw Traffic College well as it continues to train our men and women in blue in the crucial discipline of traffic law enforcement. The life-saving work that our officers do in policing our roads continues to be a source of pride for this department, and the Western Cape Government as a whole.

I thank you Ladies and Gentleman.