Summons up a speedy smile

2003-11-18 16:35

Thandee Nwa Mhangwana

Nelspruit - Traffic officers in Mpumalanga are being encouraged to issue fines with a smile this holiday season.

The traffic cops are being taught at workshops in the next two weeks to be "tourist friendly" after complaints that many are downright rude.

"We are aware of the conflict between our traffic officers and tourists, and that is why we feel it’s important that we hold workshops for them on how to be more tourist friendly," said Simphiwe Kunene of the department of local government, traffic control and traffic safety.

A much-publicised clash was earlier this year between a traffic cop and a Norwegian tourist, who accused the officer of soliciting a bribe from him.

When the tourist refused, he was arrested on trumped up charges of reckless driving, resisting arrest and interfering with a traffic officer's duties.

He was later released and the traffic cop was then arrested.

How to interact with tourists

Kunene said the workshops aimed to prevent such clashes.

"We're not saying traffic officers must be lenient, negligent or tolerant of bad behaviour," he said.

"We still expect them to maintain high standards of road safety, but in a friendly way."

The workshops will emphasise the value of tourism, provide techniques on how to interact with tourists, and take the traffic cops to popular tourist destinations.

"If visitors are ill-treated in the province, they will bad-mouth us and tourism numbers may drop," Kunene warned. "But if the opposite happens, they will spread the word about how remarkable their visit was."

- African Eye