Cape Town: The City goes to school on road safety. The Traffic Services’ Road Safety Education section has had a busy year and conveyed the ABCs of road safety to thousands of learners at schools around the metropole.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, the job is critical, as children account for approximately 10% of road deaths in the country every year.
The Road Safety Education (RSE) Unit within the Traffic Service is tasked with developing a broader public understanding and appreciation for their personal safety and that of others. While it targets all age groups and categories of road users, much of the focus is on schools and Early Childhood Development Centres.
Every year, staff attached to the RSE conduct hundreds of lectures at places of education on how to safely cross a road; observation and listening skills; understanding road signage; the importance of safety belts and general road safety. Schools also have the option of organising field trips to the City’s Junior Traffic Centres (JTCs) in Ottery and Mitchells Plain, where learners navigate real world simulations in a more ‘show and tell’ approach.
So far, this financial year (since July 2025), the unit has conducted 2,333 road safety lectures at schools and 4,748 scholar patrol visits.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that they live in a country where the road death toll remains unacceptably high, in part due to human error, but also a complete disregard for law and order. By engaging with young children in a fun and interactive way, the officers are planting concrete ideas and positive attitudes about personal safety and responsibility by holding others to account.
Smith further stated that they are also building relationships and changing perceptions about those in uniform. He encouraged schools and ECDs to reach out for an opportunity to have their learners experience this very popular and potentially life-saving awareness drive.
The Unit also helped schools in establishing their scholar patrols. This included training learners and teachers and providing uniforms, free of charge to schools. Its activities are supplemented by 115 Part-Time Traffic Attendants who regulate traffic around pedestrian crossings near schools.