The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is thrilled to announce winners of the Road Safety School Competition and Road Safety Youth Projects supported by the Fund. This journey of edutainment and life-changing choices began in August 2023 when the RAF launched the Comprehensive Road Safey Programme for Learners and Youth, culminating in the announcement of the winners and projects on Friday, 10 May in Durban.
The programme involved educating learners in primary, special, and high schools about road safety. Twenty (20) schools were selected from communities with highest incidents of road crash fatalities and injuries; inci- dentally, these areas fell within the provinces of Limpopo, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng. The learning methods for schools included road safety talks, industrial theatre performances, road safety simula- tions and a road safety competition. Later in the programme, community dialogues were held with unem- ployed and out of school youth to encourage road safety activism.
Both learners and youth were encouraged to identify road safety problems in their area and present solutions to those challenges. A slight twist with the youth was the submission of proposals which the youth can im- plement themselves in their communities. School competition elements were posters by primary and special schools and essays by high schools.
Through the selected youth projects, the RAF has committed to supporting two hundred and fifty (250) unemployed youth from the 20 communities. The youth will implement the road safety projects with the Fund, through a non-profit organisation Safer South Africa Foundation in order to reduce road crashes.
RAF Chief Executive Officer, Collins Letsoalo, said: “This programme represents the possibility of change. It is unfortunate that fatalities and injuries have become synonymous with the usage of roads, with the youth and economically active people being mostly affected. This comes at a huge cost to the country, particularly the Fund which has the responsibility of compensating those killed and injured on the roads. The daily aver- age of 34 people killed and 157 seriously injured on South African roads is concerning and high. As the Fund, we take it upon ourselves to not only care for our claimants, but also contribute towards saving lives.”
Winning schools received cash prizes to be used towards the infrastructure needs of the school, as deter- mined by the governing body. KwaZulu-Natal was the biggest winner with four schools winning in all three categories. The winners were as follows:
| POSITION | SCHOOL | PROVINCE |
| High School Category | ||
| 1 | Vuwani Secondary School | Gauteng |
| 2 | Igagasi High School | KwaZulu-Natal |
| 3 | Nonhlevu Secondary School | KwaZulu-Natal |
| Primary School Category | ||
| 1 | Ensingweni Primary School | KwaZulu-Natal |
| 2 | Pele Primary School | Gauteng |
| 3 | Mt Ayliff Full Service School | Eastern Cape |
| 3 | Ntilini Full Service School | Eastern Cape |
