Traffic chaos hits Giyani ,no traffic officials to assist

A TRAFFIC jam ensued when a motorist apparently left his broken-down vehicle in the road on the R81 near Giyani on Friday.

The result was that the road became a no-go area.

With no sign of traffic officials at the scene, traffic built up, resulting in another traffic jam at the Kremetart bridge, the only road used for access to the municipality.

Public transport users who lived 10km away were forced to alight from their taxis and walk home.

“Commuters got off the taxi and walked home when the traffic jam showed no signs of letting up,” explained Robert Ngoveni, one of the local taxi drivers. “I had no choice but to refund them because they had to go home to their families,” he added.

The traffic jam, which started at around 18:00, was only cleared after midnight. The traffic started moving again when motorists started to direct traffic, with the help of a traffic official who happened to be among the motorists caught up in the traffic jam.

On Saturday, another traffic jam occurred, caused by construction on the R81.

Again there were no traffic officials on the scene and general municipal employees had to assist in clearing the congestion.

Municipal spokesperson, Steve Mavunda, said the congestion was caused by impatient drivers who tried to pass slow traffic illegally.

“Some drivers drove into the oncoming traffic, resulting in chaos, which brought traffic to a complete stop,” he said.

When asked about the shortage of traffic officials on the road, Mavunda said the problems over the weekend had caught them off guard and this was why the municipality did not have enough traffic officials available.

“You will notice a difference soon, as our traffic officials, supported by provincial traffic officials, will be stationed on strategic areas to control traffic.”