The plaster metaphor

There's a spot on Allan Dale Road, between Harry Galaun Drive and Grieg Street, that I believe demonstrates the kind of approach we take when dealing with problems. This spot on Allan Dale is in a dip that receives a lot of water and, often enough, the excess water doesn't drain away. If anyone has had the pleasure of racing down Allan Dale, you'll know that those coming from Kyalami Race Track will make a wide berth for a pothole who sheds its winter coat every summer. This evil little bugger is only encouraged by the mass of trucks and 4x4s that wikkel on by.

However, after the rainy season, when the Highveld approaches the dry cold snaps of winter, men in overalls  bring their tar and gravel to fill the hole and keep it snug as a bug for the cold months. But as soon as that first Joburg thunder storm hits, the tar washes off like the excess weight of a Matric girl about to go on vac.

As a local living in the vicinity of this pothole, I know this little process has been on repeat ever since I can remember. And what the people who repair the road don't realise, or maybe they do and it's not their department, is that there is a small river underneath this part of the road where drainage is clearly very poor. And each year, they stick a plaster over this pothole instead of addressing the underlying problem. 

I feel this small problem is reflected in areas like our education system, where the concern is on the Matrics and their pass rate, but what about the earlier phases of education? We're doing everything to increase the Matric pass rate by looking at helping students in Grade 12, but maybe we need to make a little more effort with our earlier grades. By the time Matric rolls round, there is less than a year for exam preparation; when we could have avoided this pothole by ensuring children have the skills to cope with highschool. 

Of course, I am merely glossing over all the issues with our education system which has been ranked 132th out of 144 countries according to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013. 

Another one of our problems we seem to approach with a small band aid in the hopes of fixing everything, is the massive number of road accident deaths after every Festive season. Between 1 December 2012 and 8 January 2013, 1 465 people died in the 1 221 fatal accidents recorded. This means 37 people died each day during the silly season. The cartoon plaster in this case saw the number of deaths drop by 10 - note the absence of a percentage sign.

According to this report from eNews Channel Africa (ENCA), the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) started their campaign late and the leading cause of road accident death is alcohol. I agree that drunk drivers and drunk pedestrians are a major concern, we also cannot excuse a whole host of other issues that take place on our roads. The easy things the cops can look out for are drunk driving, speeding and poorly maintained vehicles, but there are hardly any officers around to punish bad driving. It's easy to snap a pic of a speeding motorist and send them the fine in the mail, it's harder to nab a bad driver for dangerous over-taking. 

From what I witnessed when I drove to and from Plett this New Year's and the countless trips I've taken to and from Rhodes University, there are a number of drivers who over-take when it is far too dangerous. On my way back from Plett, I witnessed a driver in a BMW X6 overtake six cars. To a lot of long distance drivers, solid lines, blind rises and sharp turns mean nothing to them. 

So, to the RTMC and traffic officers, please stop reaching for the Elastoplast box on the shelf. Sticking more officers in the shade to collect pictures of speeding number plates is not the answer. 

On the whole, we need to start tackling the underlying problem. Potholes, our education system, road deaths and many other issues deserve more attention as opposed to the plasters you keep in your first aid kit. There's more to these issues. If you don't agree with me, just frequent Allan Dale more often and maybe you'll understand this metaphor.