Mpumalanga roads see over 100 fatalities during holiday season
Included in the fatalities was a three-week-old baby born in Mbombela in December and its mother.
A three-week-old baby, born in Rob Ferreira Hospital on December 19, was one of the most recent victims, among over 100 people, tragically killed on Mpumalanga roads this festive season.
The infant was with its mother and two men when the VW Polo in which they were travelling, just outside Mbombela on Sunday night, collided head-on with an articulated truck. All four occupants are believed to have died on impact.
According to basic life support paramedic Ali Mokgotho of Care Well Ambulances, the horrific collision on the N4 had occurred just before 23:00. He said the vehicle had been heading towards Mbombela from Malalane, while the truck had been heading from Mbombela towards Malalane.
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Mokgotho said upon impact, the mother and baby were flung through the windscreen and were discovered lying dead on the road by paramedics. The two men, who had been in the driver and passenger seat, are also thought to have been killed instantaneously. He said the men’s bodies had been trapped in the wreckage and the Mbombela Fire Department had to use the Jaws of Life to extract them from the mangled Polo.
The Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison’s (DCSSL) spokesperson, Moeti Mmusi, said the identities of all four occupants had not yet been discovered. These four are among over 100 people who died in fatal accidents on Mpumalanga roads this holiday season.
The number of fatalities was discussed during an Arrive Alive joint operation at Alkmaar on the N4 on January 2 with the executive mayor of the City of Mbombela, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, and the Mpumalanga MEC for the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, Mandla Ndlovu. The final number of accidents and fatalities on Mpumalanga roads is expected to be released soon by the DCSSL’s MEC, Vusi Shongwe.
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Meanwhile, Solange Soares of TRAC told Lowvelder that preliminary statistics up to and including December 9 to January 5 saw 89 accidents on the N4 in the Lowveld alone, 86 accidents in the Highveld, 16 accidents in Gauteng and 66 accidents in Mozambique. She said not all of these were serious and included fender benders. She emphasised, however, that these were not the final figures.
Soares said the accident figures seemed to be on par with those from the 2021/22 festive season. Last year, the total number of accidents on the N4 in South Africa from December 9 to January 9 stood at 219, while the preliminary figures between the 2022/23 season also stood at 219.
As for Mozambique, she said the 2021/22 festive period traffic figures from December 9 to January 9 had been 64 accidents, while preliminary figures between December 9 and January 9 this year stood at 73. Mmusi said statistics between December 1 and 31 indicate that the number of vehicles stopped on Mpumalanga’s roads was 135 036.
He said over 25 000 notices were written up, over 400 vehicles were discontinued, and over 600 were impounded.
Mmusi said 20 arrests had been made over that period, 12 being for alcohol-related offences, four for speeding and four for other offences.
