ZIWAPHI • VOL 4 NO 2 • 15-28 JAN 2010

NELSPRUIT

At the age of 12, Innocent Shongwe is saving lives.

The Grade 6 Mpumalanga pupil is a scholar patrol officer who ensures that his schoolmates safely cross the busy road to and from school each day.

“I love doing this and I love all motorists who adhere to our instructions to stop and give way to pupils,” says Shongwe, who wants to be traffic officer when he grows up. “It’s like I am experiencing the real life of a traffic cop.”

Shongwe wakes up around 5:30am in the morning to get ready for scholar patrol duty.

He is one of seven Grade 6 scholar patrol officers at Tiphembeleni primary school in KaNyamazane outside Nelspruit who diligently report for duty at 6am.

Four of them use Stop and Go signs to control vehicles at the pedestrian crossing.

Armed with a whistle, another scholar patrol officer gives instructions as to when the stop and go signs must be changed.

All seven wear bright safety aprons over their uniforms, and caps donated by the department of public works, roads and transport.

The scholar patrol officers were trained by traffic officers and are always supervised by one or two teachers.

Shongwe has never experienced any accidents when he’s been on duty and says he doesn’t intend any to happen on his watch.

“That is why we are trying by all means to make sure our school mates are always safe on the road,” he says.

He says motorists do try ignore them if they are in a hurry, and urges them to respect the lives of the children.

“Children are the future of the nation and have a right to life, not to be killed by reckless drivers,” he says.

School principal Vinisher Khoza says that since she joined the school in 2006, there had been no accidents on the pedestrian crossing. She attributes the safety record to the scholar patrols.

Spokesperson for the provincial department of public works, roads and transport, David Nkambule, urges parents to teach their children the importance of obeying the rules of the road.

“Road safety is everybody’s responsibility,” he says.

Scholar patrol officers keep pupils safe