Minister Dipuo Peters on N11 Pepworth road accident

The Minister of Transport, Ms. Dipuo Peters, calls for extra caution on the roads following a horrific crash where five people died, when a Nissan X-Trail type vehicle lost control and collided with a bridge and landed on the nearby rail tracks after which the vehicle caught fire.
 
The crash occurred yesterday, Saturday 19 September 2015, on the N11 near Pepworth in the Ladysmith area in KwaZulu Natal.
 
Following this gruesome road crash, Minister Peters makes a plea to road users, motorists, passengers, pedestrians and the citizenry at large to exercise extreme caution on the roads at all times.
 
As the Department of Transport, we shall enlist the services of our Agency, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to assist the families of the deceased with services made available by the Agency during such periods. The RAF, as an Agency of the Department, is a caring arm of government that assists road crash victims with post-crash services such as funeral arrangements and rehabilitation.
 
The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has dispatched a team of crash and incident reconstruction and investigation specialists that will also be assisted by the South African Police Services to investigate the cause of this crash.
 
The Department of Transport and the RTMC will continue to ensure compliance and monitoring of all our roads. Amongst the intervention from the Department, there will be periodic, integrated operations focused on checking the roadworthiness of heavy vehicles, buses, taxis and scholar transport with fines of R50 000 imposed on impounded heavy vehicles and R15 000 for light vehicles. Mobile roadworthiness testing equipment will be deployed in all provinces and in rural areas to reduce risky un-roadworthy vehicles on the roads.
 
The Department will decisively address drunk driving by using amongst others, the Dragger device.
 
“Our heartfelt condolences and our thoughts go to the families, the relatives, and friends of the deceased. May their souls rest in peace”, said the Minister.
 
Enquiries:
Ishmael Mnisi
Cell: 0725660827