Western Cape Youth Road Safety Summit in Cape Town

The Western Cape Youth Road Safety Summit will be taking place at the Bridgeways Conference Centre at Ratanga Junction in Cape Town on 3 and 4 June 2016 under the theme #BEINGSAFEISCOOL.

The hosts are the national Department of Transport, supported by the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, the South African Police Service (SAPS), as well as other organisations that promote road safety.

The importance of actively engaging the youth in road safety was recognised at the second National Road Safety Summit last year. The national summit resolved to hold provincial youth road safety summits in 2016, all of which are due to culminate in a national youth road safety summit.

The main objectives of the Western Cape Youth Road Safety Summit are as follows:

• to give young people a voice on road safety,
• to contribute to a positive shift in attitudes towards road safety and behaviour among young people,
• to encourage and support the emergence of a national cadre of young road safety leaders, and
• to launch the "Youth Declaration for Road Safety", a document describing the views of young people on what they, their parents, teachers, government leaders and others can do to improve road safety.

The provincial summit will have four commissions. The focus of Commission 1 (advocacy and awareness) is an action plan to strengthen the voice of youth on road safety at a provincial, national and global level. The focus of Commission 2 (uniting, connecting and inspiring) is an action plan for working together, and exchanging experiences and expertise to reduce road traffic crashes. Commission 3 (capacity development) aims to develop the capacity of youth to advocate for change and mitigate the risk of road crash deaths and injuries. Commission 4 (youth and crime prevention) aims to raise awareness of the constructive role that youth can play in community safety.

Constable Muriel Maluleke of the SAPS Western Cape Youth Desk says, “we’re committed to addressing challenges facing the youth in the province. Our focus is the development of youth through training and mentorship. This Summit can help us gather information from youth on how we can better manage our crime prevention efforts.”

Mark Jansen, Director of Road Safety Management at the Department, says road safety is a shared responsibility. “We all have a role to play in improving road safety in South Africa and across the world. The organisers are hopeful that participants will go back with the skills, knowledge, expertise and motivation to effectively advocate in their communities and convince their peers to make our roads safer for everyone,” he said.

Follow the Department on Twitter @WCGovTPW under the hashtag #BEINGSAFEISCOOL