The teacup is back, but the danger remains

THE GIANT CONCRETE tea cup that stood outside the Altyd Somer cafe on the Dundee road, about 10km out of Vryheid, became a landmark in the comparatively short time it stood there.

Then, in the middle of April, it was completely demolished by an out-of-control articulated truck that smashed the cup and its saucer, and the nearby concrete block wall.

It was an accident that could have been an utter tragedy.

Minutes before the truck smashed into the cup, children had been playing in its saucer. There is a school just across the road from the cafe, probably about 100 metres away. The cafe’s parking area is where the children congregate after school waiting for the transport home.

The reality is that the out-of-control truck could have killed a dozen or more children. They wouldn’t have been the first children killed here.

And as a result of these earlier deaths, the Roads Department installed rumble strips across the road at this point, extended the speed limit east and west, and also extended the no-overtaking solid white line also in both directions. All these measures motorists ignore.

The Vryheid Herald reporter parked outside the cafe was watched the traffic. It was evident that the rumble strips are absolutely no impediment to the passing traffic, and especially not to the huge coal trucks which are a feature on the road.

It has even been reported that these trucks, coming from the Dundee side, blow their hooters as they come around the corner to warn the children of their approach, presumably that being considered sufficient warning that the trucks are going to make no effort to slow down.

And they do not slow down, not for the speed limit, not for the rumble strips, not for the children. The new tea cup is on a new site. It might escape the next accident.

But unless the authorities in the Roads Department or the Road Traffic Inspectorate examine the situation and do something, the children won’t.