In January, the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), representing more than 8 500 accredited businesses across eight specialist associations and the largest employer body in the country\u2019s automotive aftermarket, addressed the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition, highlighting a structural blind spot in South Africa\u2019s road safety strategy: vehicle condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The automotive retail and aftermarket sector contributes more than 54% of total automotive value-add and accounts for approximately 70% of employment in the value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet despite its economic weight and safety influence, the aftermarket remains under-integrated into national road safety policy frameworks. That omission has consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The economic cost of road crashes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Road crashes cost South Africa an estimated R205 billion annually – a figure that represents lost productivity, healthcare burdens, insurance impacts, infrastructure damage and long-term socio-economic strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the 2025\/26 festive season alone, 1 427 lives were lost in just over a month. While a five percent reduction in fatalities was welcomed, the absolute numbers remain alarming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is often missing from the national conversation is a fundamental question: How many of these vehicles were mechanically fit for the road?\u201d says Ipeleng Mabusela, CEO of the RMI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa\u2019s national vehicle parc now averages 10.8 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vehicles are remaining in operation longer, often beyond optimal maintenance cycles. At the same time, smaller passenger vehicles, which account for approximately 55% of festive season crashes, are not subject to mandatory periodic roadworthiness testing. \u201cThis creates a structural vulnerability,\u201d says Mabusela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A vehicle-first approach<\/p>\n\n\n\n RMI has consistently argued that road safety policy must adopt a vehicle-first lens alongside behavioural interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe largest segment of the vehicle parc poses the highest exposure risk, yet it remains the least regulated in terms of ongoing fitness verification,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mechanical failures linked to worn tyres, compromised braking systems, suspension defects or lighting failures may not be the primary recorded cause of a crash – but they significantly influence severity, survivability and loss outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Periodic Vehicle Testing (PVT), widely adopted internationally, provides an objective preventative safeguard. Mabusela says it is not about punitive regulation. It is about structured risk reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Easter traffic volumes increase, particularly along long-haul freight and interprovincial passenger routes, the condition of vehicles on shared road infrastructure becomes a collective safety issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aftermarket as a safety partner<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where the RMI, with members operating in every province, across metropolitan, township and rural economies, collectively forms the operational compliance and service backbone of national mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Approximately 80% of businesses in the aftermarket are SMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are labour-intensive, community-embedded and critical to keeping South Africa\u2019s ageing vehicle fleet operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mabusela says RMI members operate under a binding Code of Conduct, structured oversight and defined compliance standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf South Africa is serious about sustained reductions in road fatalities – not just seasonal improvements – vehicle condition must move from peripheral concern to central policy pillar,\u201d says Mabusela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As April holiday travel approaches, the RMI will work collaboratively with the Department of Transport. Enforcement visibility will increase. Roadblocks will be set up. Awareness campaigns will intensify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut true prevention begins long before a vehicle enters a high-traffic corridor. It begins in compliant workshops; in accredited testing centres; in structured maintenance programmes and in skilled hands.\u201d This is where the RMI is increasingly being positioned as a \u201cSign You Can Trust\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For motorists, it indicates accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For fleet operators, it signals reduced operational risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For policymakers, it represents an organised partner capable of aligning safety, skills development and economic resilience within a sector responsible for more than half of the automotive value-add in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ipeleng-Mabusela-CEO-of-The-Retail-Motor-Industry-Organisation-Article-Image-1024x821.jpg\")