Heimstädt steering road safety

Horst Heimstädt is the CEO of the Namibia Road Safety Forum.
Mariselle Stofberg
Rivaldo Kavanga



Horst Heimstädt is the CEO of the Namibia Road Safety Forum, a private organisation which does extensive work in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region as the appointed lead non-governmental organisation (NGO) for the SADC Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety.

Heimstädt has been the CEO since 2013 and continues to actively lead the forum.

He said the forum aims to save lives on the road and to make roads safer for all road users. He added that the Namibia Road Safety Forum has earned itself a reputation as being a partner of choice for road safety interventions.

“The reward of knowing that you lead such an organisation that aims to save lives is most satisfactory,” he added.



Saving lives

Heimstädt said the best part of his job is knowing that he is part of a small group of individuals who are trying to prevent lives from being lost on Namibian roads.

“Road crashes are just a thing until you go through the traumatic experience of being associated to a friend or family member who is injured or killed in a road crash,” he said. He added that the need to act on road safety is huge and that the forum's impact and actions may not be noticed by many people but what they do and stand for is saving lives on Namibian roads.



Work-life balance

Heimstädt said as the CEO it is quite difficult to separate his corporate and social life.

“My life is about what I do, even in my spare time I normally am busy looking at how can things be done better in my corporate life,” he said. However, in his limited spare time, he loves spending time in nature with his friends and family. Heimstädt is a cycling enthusiast and said he enjoys taking rides with his family. Although work occupies most of his time, he added that he tries to at least leave the office twice a week at 17h00 to cycle for at least two hours and does Pilates once a week.

Heimstädt's day starts between 07h00 and 08h00 and finishes usually between 18h00 and 19h00, and he plans each day the night before, in bed, over a cup of coffee.