Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

2-minute read
17 March 2023 | 20:50 CAT

Image: African News Agency

For some, they are a blessing; others see them as a nuisance. These homeless people have done reflector vests and busy man intersections. The Automobile Association says it is of the view that untrained pointsmen could do more harm than good.

The AA’s Layton Beard raised concerns that should an incident occur while the untrained and unauthorized pointsmen direct traffic, who will take liability?

He said the overarching concern is that there are trained police officers who should be available to do this job but instead are deployed to do other duties like establishing a roadblock in pursuit of expired vehicle licensed disks.

“In our view, a crisis such as blackouts and there is a problem with traffic, those police officers should be deployed to deal with those issues and not rely on untrained members of the public to take their job over,” he says.

We again call on the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the national and provincial Departments of Traffic to ensure such an approach is implemented countrywide as a matter of urgency, the AA said.

While this is a vital function, their relevance must be weighed against the immediate need for free-flowing traffic and the safety of motorists. If resources are too thinly spread, the deployment schedules of traffic law enforcers must be revisited, and priority must be given to addressing problems caused by rolling blackouts instead of checking for expired discs and licences.

Listen to the interview with Presenter ML Junaid Kharsany and his guest Layton Beard on Radio Islam’s podcast.