Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal department said it was satisfied with the decrease in road crashes and fatalities during the 2023 festive season holidays.
This was revealed by MEC of Transport Community Safety and Liaison Sipho Hlomuka, who said the province was currently taking stock of the performance of its enforcement operations for the Festive Season.
Hlomuka said he was pleased that the preliminary reports suggest a serious decrease.
"The province had set a target of 10 percent reduction and the indications currently are that we are at a 13% percent reduction," Hlomuka said.
He said the situation was currently being monitored as most holiday makers were making their way back.
"There are currently high volumes of traffic, mainly on the N2 and N3. There are other provincial roads which are linking small towns that are heavily monitored by traffic enforcement, comprising of the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI), National Traffic Police (NTP) and local authorities," said Hlomuka.
He said that more than 88 502 vehicles were stopped this Festive Season and more than 10 730 charges were meted against road users who violated the traffic regulations.
Commenting on the Festive Season enforcement, Hlomuka commended the law enforcement agencies, adding that their visibility and commitment yielded positive results.
“We are at a preliminary stage of the assessment with our performance, but all indications are pointing to a decrease on both crashes and fatalities. We are however not taking our eyes off the ball as our enforcement teams are still monitoring the movement of on the road. Our plan will be to monitor all our network until the school’s are opened. We are also encouraged by the work of our enforcement agencies,” said Hlomuka.
The department further appealed to road users to continue observing traffic regulations and behave responsibly.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesperson Simon Zwane told Newzroom Afrika that more than 190 000 traffic fines have been issued since December 1. He said 4 400 drivers had been arrested for various traffic violations, including drunk driving and speeding. Zwane added that major violations continue to occur in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
“There is reckless and negligent driving, moreover a high number of public transport drivers driving without proper permits, taking passengers into areas where they are not permitted to go to and, in some cases, the cars were impounded,” said Zwane.
He added that there was a concern about the high number of pedestrians who are being knocked down by cars. He said people walk at night under the influence of alcohol and they often try to cross the freeway.
Zwane said the high visibility of law enforcement officers has been a great help in decreasing of the road accidents during the festive season.
“Road blocks and working with the police has assisted a lot,” said Zwane.
Daily News