The department of Transport and Community Safety in Limpopo is considering upgrading the N1 highway between the Kranskop toll plaza and the Beitbridge border into a double carriageway, to try and deal with the continued carnage on that stretch of the road.
MEC Makoma Makhurupetje has told Pride News that she will need more resources from national government to ensure the safety of thousands of motorists who travel on that busy route daily.
She has confirmed that at least forty-nine (49) people have been killed in car accidents across the provinces’ roads in the past two weeks, with most, having died on the N1.
The major accident occurred on Thursday night, 2 November 2017 when a minibus taxi travelling on the N1 in Botlokwa tried avoiding a stray donkey on the road, collided head-on with a truck and caught fire.
According to the police’s spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe, eleven (11) occupants in the minibus taxi died instantly, three (3) survived with serious injuries but one later died in hospital.
Makhurupetje spoke to members of the media before visiting one of the victims who was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), “We are worried following these accidents and the festive season around the corner, we must deal with this issue, in particular, the stray animals together with the people of Botlokwa, and the department of Agriculture.”
The police In Limpopo say, only three (3) of the twelve (12) people that were killed have been positively identified by their families.
Ngoepe says Salphina Muleya, Temsem Zerfu and Barbra Dhendere have been positively identified and the remaining eight (8) are yet to be identified.
While the province was still reeling in shock, eight (8) more people were killed on the N1 near Mookgopong in a multiple car pileup involving three cars and a truck on Friday afternoon.
Makhurupetje says as authorities gear up for traffic rush on the N1 this festive season, the department’s newly launched operation ‘Ndadzi’ will help to ensure safety on the roads. Ndadzi is a TshiVenda word which translates to thunder in English.
She says the main objective of the operation is to reduce critical offence rates that lead to crashes on the roads, by being strict to those who are found speeding, driving unroadworthy vehicles or driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Makhurupetje concludes by stressing that fatal crashes in Limpopo have reached an alarming proportion and unless innovative and robust road safety and traffic law enforcement plans are put in place as a matter of urgency, the situation might turn from bad to worse.
