Mpumalanga Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Pat Ngomane thanks all road users for being well behaved during the Easter Holidays.
Ngomane says although there is a slight margin of crashes recorded when comparing with year 2016, the province could have recorded a huge number of crashes and fatalities have it not been the good behaviour of most road users.
“As much as we have managed to reduce the number of crashes, the number of fatalities remains a concern. One death is one too many, that is why we will continue with our strategies to make sure that we drastically reduce the number of people dying on our roads.
We have arrested those who chose to disobey the rules of the road, and we will not rest until we bring to book all those who continue to break the law. Innocent people die on the road because of people who are selfish and fail to understand that they share the road with other people,” the MEC says.
Preliminary reports show that traffic officers have arrested more than 200 motorists for violations varying from drunk driving and excessively exceeding speed limits as set in various roads. The highest speed was recorded on 15 April 2017 on the N3 Toll Road. The accused is a Korean national who was arrested driving at 208 km/h on a 120 km/h zone in a BMW sedan.
The focus was mainly on alcohol as it has been established to be one of the contributors to most crashes. Patrols were conducted in all areas regarded as problematic on drunk driving.
The MEC also thanks all law enforcers for working hard ensuring that holiday makers made it alive to their various destinations. He says that traffic officers, from national, provincial and municipalities and police officers worked tirelessly to make sure that all people using roads are safe. He adds that the Minister of Transport will deliver the final results later this week.
MEC Ngomane on the other hand has announced the law enforcement and visibility will continue as the country is heading for another long weekend next week. He has also appealed to community members to report people who are not using the safely in order to contribute towards making our roads safer.
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Enquiries: Joseph Mabuza
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E-mail: emabuza@mpg.gov.za