POOR General Bheki Cele is feeling the strain of the job he took on when no one else wanted to fill Jackie Selebi's shoes.
The general swaggered into the national police arena with promises of beating criminals. He threatened them with force and quickly gained notoriety and admiration for his no-nonsense style of policing.
He made cosmetic changes to the police service by reintroducing military ranks and elevated himself to general.
He has now turned into a populist. He was on radio saying that the festive roadblocks would apprehend motorists for unpaid tickets, tax arrears, minor infractions and papgeld.
This should long have been general police procedure instead of a "new directive" to halve crime. The question is whether these new rules will halve the horrendous accident rate on our roads.
Daily road fatalities make South Africa one of the most dangerous countries in the world and cost the country billions.
South African motorists are a law unto themselves. They do not respect or follow the rules of the road. They love speed while being the most poorly trained drivers. Motorists use cellphones as they please.
Rumours persist about sales of driver's licences. Traffic police are generally acknowledged to be on the take. Death trap cars and minibuses travel our roads with impunity.
Visible policing and patrols and a desire to enforce the law rigorously is the only way to make our roads safe.
Making our roads safe
POOR General Bheki Cele is feeling the strain of the job he took on when no one else wanted to fill Jackie Selebi's shoes.
The general swaggered into the national police arena with promises of beating criminals. He threatened them with force and quickly gained notoriety and admiration for his no-nonsense style of policing.
He made cosmetic changes to the police service by reintroducing military ranks and elevated himself to general.
He has now turned into a populist. He was on radio saying that the festive roadblocks would apprehend motorists for unpaid tickets, tax arrears, minor infractions and papgeld.
This should long have been general police procedure instead of a "new directive" to halve crime. The question is whether these new rules will halve the horrendous accident rate on our roads.
Daily road fatalities make South Africa one of the most dangerous countries in the world and cost the country billions.
South African motorists are a law unto themselves. They do not respect or follow the rules of the road. They love speed while being the most poorly trained drivers. Motorists use cellphones as they please.
Rumours persist about sales of driver's licences. Traffic police are generally acknowledged to be on the take. Death trap cars and minibuses travel our roads with impunity.
Visible policing and patrols and a desire to enforce the law rigorously is the only way to make our roads safe.
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