A Mafikeng man in his forties was arrested for being in possession of a suspected stolen firearm at a roadblock outside Lichtenburg on the R503 Mafikeng-Lichtenburg road on Sunday afternoon.
Nine illegal immigrants were also arrested in the blitz which is part of the North West Department of Public Safety’s month long zero tolerance operation dubbed ‘Moretlwa-Die Poppe Sal Dans’.
The effectiveness of the operation during which 1 320 road offenders have thus far been issued with tickets for various traffic violations has reduced accidents which normally occur on the 67 kilometres stretch of road to three in the past twenty days. Two of the three accidents occurred at the same spot, fro example; the Bakerville junction on Thursday and Friday night respectively.
Except the 10 people who were admitted to Thusong provincial hospital with serious injuries as a result of the accidents, no fatalities have occurred since the launch of the operation. Drivers of the BMW and City Golf involved in a head on collision in which six people were injured on Friday night have both been charged for suspected drunken driving.
North West MEC for Public Safety, Howard Yawa has raised a concern about driver aggression which manifests itself through speeding and the unacceptably high number of road users caught for driving on a public road without driver licenses.
612 road offenders have thus far been issued with speeding tickets while 199 road users were found to be driving without licenses during road blocks and road side inspections on the road during the much publicized blitz.
107 road users were caught for not wearing seat belts, 35 for overtaking on a barrier lines and scores of others for unlicensed vehicles, invalid taxi permits, taxis for driving on wrong routes, passenger overload, and worn out tyres.
“Our rolling enforcement plan will be intensified as part of our zero tolerance approach throughout the province to stamp out the phenomenon of driver aggression and lawlessness on our public roads in line with our road safety strategy,” says MEC Yawa.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele
Tel: 018 381 9171
Cell: 083 629 1987
Fax: 018 381 9164
E-mail: LKgwele@nwpg.gov.za
