Minister Mitchell joins Provincial Traffic Officers to raise farmworker transportation awareness

Media Release by Daylin Mitchell Western Cape Minister of Mobility

As part of my continued drive to raise safety awareness during October Transport Month, I was joined by the Provincial Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, during a Traffic Law Enforcement operation targeted at farmworkers’ transportation in De Doorns on Friday afternoon.

The operation formed part of the Provincial Traffic Services efforts to support the prioritisation of the safe transportation of farmworkers in the Western Cape, affirming our commitment to proactively reduce the number of road fatalities and potential crashes involving vehicles transporting farmworkers.

Although operational plans include the enforcement of all motor vehicles on the roads, Provincial Traffic Services continue to drive focused joint operations to ensure driver and motor vehicle compliance with a specific focus on the transportation of farmworkers.

These joint operations take place at specific times and locations, which often include the West Coast and the Winelands region, where most incidents are reported. Similar operations are held in the Overberg district as well.

As the demand for agriculture jobs continues to grow in the province, it continues to create challenges for Traffic Law Enforcement (TLE) in terms of being able to adequately enforce the issues surrounding farmworker transportation, due to legislative limitations pertaining to the safe transportation in the National Road traffic Act.

The enforcement of the safe transportation of farmworkers in the Western Cape has been a priority for Provincial Traffic Services for many years and will remain one of our integrated tactical focus areas.

The Western Cape Government initiated the safe transportation of farmworkers concept early in 2021, prior to the Easter holidays, initially starting only in the Cape Winelands area based on the movement of seasonal and everyday farmworkers.

Since the inception of the transportation of farmworker operations, the objective has always been to promote road safety and the safe commuting of farmworkers on various major routes where there are farming communities, which influences our planning.

Provincial Traffic Law Enforcement pay special attention to the routes where seasonal farmworkers are likely to be transported, to monitor and enforce these routes particularly during harvesting times.

With limitations in terms of legislation regarding the loading of passengers into the vehicles, our approach has been to enforce driver and vehicle fitness including the safe loading, as well as the educational and awareness interventions with the drivers and farm owners, for them to play their part in safety and understand the seriousness thereof.

I am proud to mention that the Cape Winelands, Metro (farming areas), Overberg and the West Coast were all included in the TLE monthly tactical plans and are showing the dividends in respect of no fatalities or major crashes subsequently on our main routes with farmworker vehicles. We must do our best to keep matters this way.

Although we will have limited farmworker operations in December and January, due to the festive season when farmworker transportation is limited, I want to assure farmworkers that their safety on our roads is my priority too. I will not rest until all farmworkers are transported in dignity and under safer conditions.

Media Queries:          

Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka
Spokesperson for Minister Daylin Mitchell
Cell: 082 953 0026
Email: Ntomboxolo.Makoba-Somdaka@westerncape.gov.za