Following the preliminary Festive Season road safety report released by Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi in Pretoria on Monday naming Limpopo as the best performing province in terms of reduction of road accidents and fatalities, MEC for Transport and Community Safety in Limpopo Makoma Makhurupetje has pledged to start campaigns to educate residents about the rules of the road as it was reported that pedestrians contributed enormously to accidents during the Festive Season.
Limpopo topped the charts in terms of the reduction of road accidents and fatalities after 176 fatalities were recorded against 270 in 2016 which is a 27% reduction and accidents by 17% as 162 crashes were observed compared to 196 in the previous year. It was reported that road fatalities involving pedestrians across the country increased from 34% to 37%.
A statement made available by departmental spokesperson, Matome Moremi Taueatsoala quoted Maswanganyi to have said the preliminary Festive Season fatalities for the period starting on 1 December to 9 January showed that 1 527 people had died on national roads in 2017 compared to 1 714 fatalities in the same period the previous year.
He further said the records represented an 11% decline which surpassed the 10% target and added that, considering the entire holiday period from 1 December to 15 January, there were 1 676 fatalities compared to 1 875 in the same period the previous year.
Limpopo occupied the first spot followed by Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. Maswanganyi said: “The highest number of fatalities across the country was among pedestrians which increased from 34% to 37% and fatalities among drivers also increased from 23% to 27%. However, there was a decline in passenger fatalities from 41% to 35% which indicates that it is possible to save more lives if more people use safety belts.”
He went on to say there was an increase in fatalities among young drivers between the ages of 25 to 34 but an encouraging decline in the number of fatalities among drivers between the ages of 35 and 49 was recorded.
A number of traffic violation notices have shown a decrease from 453 263 in the previous period to 304 603 in the period under review, he explained and added that there was a decline in the number of people who were fined for failing to wear safety belts and the number of discontinued vehicles.
It was reported that a state-owned driving licence centre in NkowaNkowa, where learners driving permits and drivers licences were issued without due regard of the driver’s fitness, was closed. Five examiners and three civilians who facilitated corrupt deals were arrested and twelve traffic officers were also arrested for taking bribes from motorists in Limpopo, said Maswanganyi. He further applauded men and women in uniform for the job well done and urged them to continue working diligently to reach the 10% target.
In a voice clip, Makhurupetje was heard saying “When I arrived at the department in October, there were two major accidents that happened and that made us ask ourselves if we were ready for the Festive Season. We started what we call Operation Ndadzi ‘thunder’ on 1 November to increase visibility and conduct operations that would make sure that we are zero tolerance and removed all the vehicles that were not road worthy and those who were not adhering to the rules of the road.”
She said the department has two divisions being transport and community safety hence both the Police and traffic officers conducted joined operations to deal with traffic offences and criminal charges simultaneously.
She further applauded the officials for making most arrests comparing to other provinces stating that the achievement clearly shows that officials and the Police were working tirelessly to arrest both motorists who tried to bribe officials and officials who took bribes.
Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
