New traffic unit bolsters road safety initiative

Road safety in South Africa is set to receive a major boost with the introduction of the first National Traffic Intervention Unit (NTIU). The first batch of officers this week passed out in Pretoria following an intensive nine months of training. Given the high number of road deaths in the country, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele last year committed to the establishment of a specialised NIU to bolster operations and interventions of existing traffic law enforcement agencies in dealing with particularly high accident frequency locations. According to a spokesman for the Department of Transport, 231 traffic officers, who form part of the first batch of recruits, underwent specialised training at the Tshwane Metro Police Academy and Boekenhoutskloof Traffic Training College in Pretoria. In addition to the compulsory six-month traffic officer’s training, members of the NIU also received training in various other courses including first aid, interpersonal communications, defensive driving, anti-corruption, ethics, dealing with people with diplomatic immunity and incident management. The NIU, under the command of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), will engage in joint operations with various law enforcement agencies such as provincial traffic, municipal/metro police, SAPS, Cross Border Transport Agency, Military Police, Sars, Immigration and Environmental Affairs to empower, share and transfer skills. The Unit will also assist in stabilising identified locations through special blitz/sting operations, and will be deployed across the country as and when required either at the invitation of a specific law enforcement agency or as a result of national deployment. The NIU will utilise state-of-the-art equipment including breathalysers with drug detection devices, number plate recognition equipment, mobile violation recorders and speed-timing equipment.