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Summary: Notorious murder statistics in South Africa are almost matched by its road fatalities – and it's often schoolchildren who die.
[4 June 2012] - It is 7.40am in Broadlands Park, a poor settlement on the edge of Cape Town. With only 20 minutes to go before the start of the school day, nine-year-old Luciana Forteyn stands on the edge of the busy Broadlands Road, grabs the hand of her friend Satika and dodges between the headlights to reach the other side of the highway. Like many of the 1,500 children from the neighbourhood making their way to Broadland Park's two primary schools, every morning and afternoon the girls must cross the busy Broadway Boulevard at its junction with Broadlands Road, which feeds thousands of cars on to the N2 highway to Cape Town, 60km away. "We are supposed to use the small streets but it takes longer that way," says Luciana. The girls say the pedestrian crossings on the junction are useless. During rush hour, cars have priority over people and the flashing green man rarely makes an appearance, leaving pedestrians stuck on the kerb. "You never see [the green man]," says Luciana. "That is why we don't press the button. It is just best to run." Every day, South African children like Luciana and Satika risk their lives just trying to get an education. Worldwide, road crashes are now the biggest global killer of young people aged 10-24. In South Africa, three children under the age of 15 die on the roads daily; they are among 13,800 annual road fatalities in the country each year. That total not only approaches the country's notorious 15,900 murder rate, but also gives South Africa one of the highest per capita road death rates in the world. Figures from South Africa's Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), the body charged with identifying the country's road priorities, show that Luciana and Satika are in the highest risk group for road accidents. Most female pedestrian fatalities are girls between the ages of five and nine. Police say almost half of road traffic incidents they attended on the Broadlands Road junction in the past year involved young pedestrians. The problems do not stop when the children reach school. Teachers say stress caused by traffic incidents on the way to school, and high noise levels during class, are affecting pupils' ability to learn. Efforts are afoot to make the roads safer. Arrive Alive, a national road safety information programme launched in 1997 and sponsored by the private sector, has been cranked up, while the Mandela family launched the Zenani Mandela campaign this month. Introduced in memory of Nelson Mandela's 13-year-old granddaughter, who was killed in a road accident during the 2010 World Cup, the initiative aims to make South Africa's roads safer for children. Yet parents say these campaigns are not enough to ensure their children reach school unharmed. They say town planning is deficient and resources remain ill-targeted to protect their children. "Fifteen years ago, families like the Forteyns lived in shacks on a wetland quite near the schools," says Samuel Simons, a 44-year-old electrician and community activist from Broadlands Park. "New houses were built for them on the other side of Broadway Boulevard. That is when the problem started." Simons, the father of three children aged eight, 11 and 12, says the 30,000 people of Broadlands Park and adjacent Nomzano feel neglected. "Road safety is taught at school but it happens once a year, then it is forgotten," he says. "I have asked the council to adjust the timer on the pedestrian lights at the junction, but nothing has been done." In 2006, Simons and his 38-year-old wife Sharon were among two dozen residents honoured by a World Health Organisation "safe community" designation. They had established neighbourhood watch schemes that ended gang violence and started holiday activities for children, road maintenance and school patrols. They lobbied for measures to slow the traffic but won only a speed hump and a level crossing outside a high school north of Broadway Boulevard. Now community initiatives on road safety have withered away. "There was a big presentation and we got diplomas," he says. "But we needed more gestures back … now no one wants to volunteer any more. The school patrols have stopped." South Africa is full of Broadland Parks – crowded areas where community goodwill has been exhausted and urban planning has not kept up with needs. Eighteen years after the end of apartheid, pedestrian-operated traffic lights, pavements and zebra crossings remain rare in poor areas. It is in leafy neighbourhoods – where residents have cars – that you find most pedestrian-controlled crossings, emitting their solitary tick-tick-tick amid the empty pavements. Ward councillor Johan Middleton, in charge of the transport, roads and stormwater portfolio, admits a footbridge is needed for the children who negotiate the Broadway-Broadlands junction. "I myself have seen accidents there," he says, adding that the situation will get worse when 3,000 more houses are built in Broadlands Park in three years' time. He pledges to move a motion requesting a footbridge at the next sub-council meeting. According to Middleton, the problem is one of fiscal priorities. "Money is the problem," he says. "We can look at the timing of the pedestrian light, but Broadway Boulevard is a service road and traffic needs to be kept moving. We can ask for a zebra crossing and approach an insurance company to sponsor school patrols. But anything more substantial will take at least five years." In the meantime, children like Luciana and Satika will continue to dodge cars and cross highways simply to get to school every day.  Further Information: