MOTORISTS have been urged to sign a petition to put pressure on Sanral to erect barriers to prevent drivers from making dangerous and illegal U-turns at the Shelly Beach/Izotsha off-ramp on the R61.
In the interim, there is a call to open toll booths at these off-ramps for free passage.
Sanral appears to be pooh-poohing the calls and their CEO has accused the DA of ‘politicking’.
About a year ago, the Herald carried horrific front page photographs of cars in flames on the off-ramp. Three people were burnt to death. In total, there have been 11 deaths, in one accident an entire family wiped out.
On Monday this week the DA, Ugu South Constituency, launched its petition for life-saving renovations on R61 – locally known as a ‘death run’.
The DA was only drawn into the saga after a community call-to-action over the past two years fell on deaf ears.
The party’s shadow Minister of Transport wrote to Nazir Alli, Sanral chief executive officer, suggesting that the barriers should be erected.
However, Mr Alli merely accused the DA of ‘politicising’ the issue ahead of the local government elections.
He insisted that the R61 set-up was ‘designed optimally to allow for safe passage of all road users’.
He put the blame squarely on ‘lawlessness’ and ‘lack of law enforcement’.
“Mr Alli’s response was clearly out of touch with the situation,” said Dr Rishigen Viranna, MPL for the Ugu South Constituency. “There have been numerous accidents and deaths on this stretch of road. This has been an ongoing struggle for the past 24 months and not just around elections.”
Dr Viranna also demanded that the toll booths be opened without charges until safety measures were implemented.
He cited a similar problem on the N2 at Mandini and Dokodweni toll plazas. After many lives were lost, Sanral eventually erected cable barriers between the carriageways.
“We are now petitioning the National Assembly to bring pressure to bear on Sanral to erect similar barriers at the Izotsha ramp.”
The petition is available online at www.uguda.org and will also as hard copy at various supporting businesses and DA information tables.
For more information contact Dr Viranna at 083 4436418, Cllr Paul Brauteseth at 082 5534745 or Cllr Dave Watson at 082 3744114.
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