JMPD appoints 200 trained pointsmen to manage load shedding traffic
Load shedding often causes serious congestion. JMPD officials will be taking to the streets to help.
FILE: Heavy traffic on the N1 south. Picture: Eyewitness News
Aubrey Masango speaks to Xolani Fihla, JMPD Spokesperson.
Listen to the interview in the audio below.
Being on the road during load shedding can be a nightmare as the robots are no longer working to control traffic.
While the idea is to treat intersections as a four way stop, this does not always work, and massive delays often occur.
Since load shedding is not going anywhere any time soon, the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) has appointed 200 pointsmen to improve traffic flow.
These officials were deployed on 22 January and will largely operate at traffic lights that are out.
Fihla says that these points people have done training through the JMPD training academy and will continue to receive on the job training.
“That on-the-job training is really essential.”
- Xolani Fihla, JMPD Spokesperson
These workers have been contracted for 12 months, but a process is underway to appoint permanent traffic wardens, he adds.