The Automobile Association (AA) has questioned the axing of former transport minister, Dipuo Peters, in last week’s controversial cabinet reshuffle by president Jacob Zuma.
The association believes that the change in leadership could lead to a loss of momentum in moving road safety higher in the national agenda.
“Our first reaction is to ask why Ms Peters has been replaced. While there remain notable challenges in the Department of Transport, the former Minister was making progress, especially in relation to interacting with transport and road safety NGOs, including the AA, to reduce the alarmingly high road death toll. Replacing her, without explanation, raises a red flag,” said an AA spokesperson.
The body stressed that the new minister, Joe Maswanganyi, needed to be aware of and take seriously the challenges facing the department such as the roll-out of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) as well as improved road safety, road statistics and traffic law enforcement.
Newly appointed minister of transport, Maswanganyi, is a former teacher and MEC of Sports, Arts and Culture in Limpopo and has served on the Portfolio Committee on Transport since September 2015. He replaces Peters who served as transport minister for four years.
