Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison says traffic enforcement operations will be stepped up over the festive season.
This comes after a fatal crash outside Umzimkhulu, in southern KZN, which claimed six members of the Tenza family.
They were travelling in a Toyota Avanza when it collided head-on with a truck. The accident happened on the R56 in Clydesdale on Friday.
MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Sipho Hlomuka urged motorists to respect the rules of the road.
“As we are approaching the festive season holidays, we call on all road users to respect traffic regulations. We have launched an integrated festive season plan that seeks to promote safety on the road and in communities. The success of this plan is dependent on the proactive work by law enforcement to reduce road crashes,” he said.
Hlomuka also conveyed his condolences to the Tenza family.
“On behalf of the provincial government, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to the Tenza family. It is unimaginable how one family can lose so many members in one accident. We are calling on road users to behave responsibly.”
Speaking during the launch of the festive season safety plan, KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said she was concerned about the number of fatal road accidents in the province.
“We call on the road freight industry to attend to the issue of errant truck drivers whose negligent driving has taken many lives in the province recently. We remember vividly the Pongola horrific accident. The multiple truck accidents a few weeks ago claimed more lives. Our roads cannot be turned into mass graves and places of untimely deaths.
“The Road Traffic Inspectorate has a huge responsibility to make every road user feel that when in KwaZulu-Natal you drive responsibly or face the music.
“We are exploring ideas around the spate of truck accidents. This may include enforcing a curfew on freight trucks and redirecting vehicles to less busy roads. We are continuing engagements with the freight and logistics industry.”
Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesperson Simon Zwane confirmed that its officers had been deployed to KZN.
“We are assisting in KZN. We have deployed our people – they are on the ground as we speak. After that Pongola crash (in which 20 people died), we engaged with the MEC for these deployments.
“These deployments are intended to assist traffic officers in KZN so that the number of accidents decrease on the road.”