From taking videos of drunk drivers and pairing them with cheeky captions, the KwaZulu-Natal transport department seems to have cracked the code on how to grab the public’s attention while educating.
Going through the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) social media pages, one is greeted with a mix of road safety messaging and humour, with captions that often mirror the dramatic and sometimes bizarre behaviour of those caught on the wrong side of the law.
In one clip, a woman arrested for drunk driving is seen in tears, while sitting with a number of officers across the table.
The video caption leaned into the moment with a tongue-in-cheek remark.
The caption read: “#NenzaniLaEzweni ! Kubi Kubi Kubi ! Imbokodo ithi iphuza itiye kuphela amanga ukuthi ibuhlabile. She says she was arrested for driving under the influence of tea.”
Another video caption shows two men handcuffed.
An officer is seen wiping the nose and eyes of one handcuffed suspect with a tissue, and the caption read: “#NenzaniLaEzweni Isukile! Drama Drama Drama! Kubi Kubi Kubi (it is bad). The tears-inducing question #NenzaniLaEzweni is being unleashed by the No Nonsense RTI.”
A recent video, which was also posted on their social media platform, showed a man they called a “stunt driver”.
The man went viral for dancing while driving with his body hanging from the door with his body completely outside the vehicle and his one hand controlling the steering wheel.
The man has since handed himself over to the police.
In another video, officials had arrested four women on Sunday who were driving under the influence of alcohol.
The caption read in part: “A motorist, who is a teacher, demands to know where is his Polo. His friend who is heavily drunk sings about Russia.”
The spokesperson for the department Ndabezinhle Sibiya said their main aim was to change the manner in which they do road safety campaigns.
“In reducing road crashes and fatalities in KZN, for the first time in two decides we attained 18% decrease purely because of the mandate,” he said.
“The naming and shaming and all the work that we do, including livestreaming is because generally there is a culture of disrespect for authority, that is why you see the violation of the national Road Traffic Act.
“We name and shame those that are involved because they are creating offences,” Sibiya said.
He said many accidents were as a results of alcohol.
Sibiya said the response to their social media has been “overwhelming” from across racial groups.
“We decided to use humor based on road safety and simple language, that people will relate to and a strong message.”
There has, however, been some backlash to the campaign, he said.
“...obviously there has been a push back but we noticed that the motorist that we arrest have come back to us and told us that they have quit alcohol or they no longer drink excessively.”
Sowetan
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