Making roads safer for everyone
Book teaches young kids about signs, rules
Creating safer roads from a young age is the goal of Siphesihle Mbali Mavundla, author of Kids on the Road, a driving manual for grade R to 7 pupils.
“The ‘K53 Junior’ is about solving a bigger problem in the country – unsafe roads,” says Mavundla. Mavundla, 29, from KwaZulu-Natal, did her diploma in journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology. In her final year, she did her internship at the same university, writing for internal staff newsletters and the student magazine. The idea for the manual came while Mavundla was working in a car service workshop and she was asked by her employer to assist high school pupils to obtain their driver’s licences. Naturally, she first did as much research as she could. Soon, Mavundla knew everything that young drivers needed to know and decided to combine this knowledge with her writing skills to produce a road safety book. She understood that some students face language barriers and battle to grasp certain concepts and she was determined to keep the manual simple. Mavundla hopes to have the book accredited by the department of basic education so that it can be introduced to schools as part of the curriculum.
“As it stands, there is no formal education for motorists, so this book closes a gap in that area,” says Mavundla.
She believes that if youngsters learn the rules of the road at an early age, they will be better motorists when they grow up, which will lead to safer roads for all.
Mavundla’s book, which was published by The Flow Publishing House, is filled with road rules and road signs. It also has a careers section to teach children about the various careers that exist in the motor industry. She says had she known about these options at an early age, she might not have chosen to study journalism.
“The more I grow up, the more I realise that I have an unexplored curiosity and love for mechanics.” Mavundla’s message to motorists this October (Transport Month) is that when they are behind the wheel, they are responsible not only for their life, but for the lives of their passengers and fellow road users too.
“My plea is for motorists to think beyond themselves when behind the wheel.” –
A sudden retrenchment in 2020 inspired Mathabo Ntshiqa to start a laundrette that services residents of Langa in Cape Town.
ULibo Laundry Services was established at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic after Ntshiqa, 33, lost her job in the hospitality industry.
She says she applied for other jobs but because she had always wanted to open her own business, she also looked for entrepreneurial opportunities.
She realised that the pandemic had placed immense pressure on parents because they had to cope with working remotely, helping home school their children and running their households.
Knowing how much time it takes to do laundry, she decided to open a laundrette in the hope that these overburdened parents would become her clients.
With the little savings she had, Ntshiqa bought second-hand machinery and started operating from a rented shop at the Shoprite Centre in Langa. Although the first few months of operation were tough, she managed to keep the business alive. “I started from nothing, with no back-up funds and no back-up options,” she says.
Another challenge was the lack of a business hub in the area, she says, which meant that there was little support for
I started business from nothing