Question NW3819 to the Minister of Transport

Reply:

(a) The objectives of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Youth Driver Development Programme are to promote road safety; contribute to the reduction of the number of fatal crashes involving heavy vehicle drivers with no professional training; contribute to skills development and job creation for youth between the ages 23 and 34; and to discourage the culture of buying licenses amongst the youth for purposes of looking for employment, (b) the programme has been running from the 2016/2017 financial year, (c) a total of 150 learners were admitted to the programme since its inception, (d) candidates for this programme are identified and recruited through social and mainstream media and the RAF also partnered with youth formations such as the National Youth Development Agency and the South African Youth Council for recruitment and selection purposes, (e) the costs of this programme in the 2016/2017 financial year was R1 499 908.00 and for the current financial year an amount of R2 000 000 is budgeted, and (f) the RAF benefits from this programme by ensuring that more drivers are licensed, thereby reducing the risk of road crashes involving public transport and commercial vehicles, which in turn reduces the RAF’s liability to pay claims related to bodily injury or death resulting from such road crashes.