HIGHVELD – Sasol has over the years appointed point duty officers in and around the Teks area to alleviate traffic congestion and smooth running of traffic flow. This is however, not always the case when impatient motorists and taxi drivers approach.
The main road leading from Secunda towards the four-way stop in Trichardt is often a headache.
A concerned motorist raised alarm last week when a taxi nearly drove into an approaching vehicle at this intersection, having no regard for the point duty officers or fellow motorists.
The motorist who wishes to remain anonymous, said she daily drives from Bethal to Secunda. The negligence and disregard for point duty officers and road users is becoming a bigger concern, as these drivers know they are getting away with their law-breaking attitudes.
“Motorists don’t adhere to the instructions of point duty officers. On your way to or from Secunda you get speeding motorists and taxis driving in the emergency lane (yellow line) as this is a single lane. They force their way to the front and turn in front of you when they are not supposed to, completely ignoring the point duty officers, as well as fellow road users.”
“This is dangerous! Lives are at stake! The traffic department needs to take responsibility, they are the law enforcers. The point duty officers are wonderful to have, but the traffic department are the ones who need to enforce the law, which they don’t,” said the concerned motorist.
“The Sasol point duty officers are trained to control the flow of traffic at main intersections in order to ease traffic congestion during peak periods. They are, however, not empowered to execute duties of official traffic officers and therefore cannot be expected to perform law enforcement.
“Matters of law enforcement remain the responsibility of the Govan Mbeki Municipality Traffic department,” said Ms Matebello Motloung, Group Media Relations Manager for Sasol.
Ridge Times sent an email to Govan Mbeki Municipality on Thursday, 6 February, raising the concerns.
Mr Lucky Mhlongo, spokesman for GMM, said the matter will be investigated.
