One year since the announcement of the new National Rolling Enforcement Plan (NREP) by Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele on 10 September 2010, more than 18,000 drunk drivers have been arrested and 50,000 un-roadworthy vehicles removed from the country’s roads.
And this is just the beginning: Minister Ndebele has warned South Africans to obey road rules or pay the price.
In the 10 months from 1 October 2010 to 31 August 2011, 12,984,120 vehicles and drivers were checked, 5,540,275 fines issued for various traffic offences, 18,527 drunk drivers arrested and 50,272 un-roadworthy vehicles (the majority of which are buses and taxis) discontinued from use.
“During this Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, traffic law enforcement will be intensified without compromise in order to make our roads safe. We want to warn South Africans to obey the rules or pay the price. Remember, you can run but you can’t hide. The carnage on our roads must be stopped,” Minister Ndebele said.
Last month (August) alone, more than 4,000 arrests were effected and 3,429 vehicles discontinued from use, including the following arrests: drunk driving (769 – with the majority of 343 in Gauteng); reckless and/or negligent driving (88); excessive speed (162); passenger/goods overloading (64); warrants of arrest (1,929); public transport permits (516); false documentation (52); no driver’s licence (100); other arrests (436). From 1 to 31 August, 1,238,594 vehicles and drivers were checked and 692,749 fines issued for various traffic offences.
In addition, during the past two weeks, from 31 August to 11 September, 71,985 public transport vehicles were stopped and checked; 210 scholar transport vehicles, 47 buses, 108 mini-buses and 41 trucks discontinued from use; and 18,244 fines issued. More than 230 public transport drivers were arrested as follows: 13 for drunk driving; 10 for excessive speed; 8 for reckless and/or negligent driving; 24 in connection with public transport permits and the majority, 171, for overloading.
Other operations yesterday (13 September) included the following:
A taxi driver who knocked down Ms Kim McCusker, dragging her for hundreds of metres under his vehicle, was arrested in Lonehill, Fourways in Gauteng.
Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle shut down TJ Motor Vehicle Testing Station, confiscating all the company's records for investigation, following a recent bus crash that killed 14 children and a driver. The vehicle involved had a range of defects, despite being given a roadworthy certificate.
A multi-agency investigation was launched into allegations that Deputy Tshwane Metro Police Chief Ndumiso Jaca was using invalid number plates on two of his vehicles.
On 11 September, a driver was arrested for gross overloading on the N4 Bakwena Platinum Highway outside Brits in the North West Province. The motorist was driving a Toyota Hilux single cab bakkie that was pulling a trailer when he was directed to Bapong weighbridge by traffic officers.
The vehicle with six occupants, four adult males, two of whom were with the heavy laden goods on the trailer and two children aged 10 and 2 was unsafe to be on a public road. Upon being weighed, the driving axle of the bakkie which is allowed 1,670kg was found to be overloaded by 231,7% - it weighed 5,540kg.
Its Gross Combination Mass which is allowed 3,360kg was found to be overloaded by 6,100kg - it weighed 9,460kg. It practically had no steering: the undermass on its steering was 280,6kg under as it weighed 760kg instead of the permissible 1,040,6kg. Its home-built trailer also had no brakes and its tyres were deflating under its heavy load, even as the vehicle was being weighed at the weighbridge. The 38 year-old motorist, Andrew Ndlovu, was arrested on the spot. Ndlovu was granted R1000 bail at the Marikana Police Station, and is expected to appear in court on 10 October.
On 9 September, 15 people, the majority of whom were teachers from Mafikeng, were killed in a road crash involving a mini-bus taxi between Zeerust and Groot Marico in the North West.
On 7 September, 10 people were killed when a midi-bus collided with an articulated truck on the R545 in Ogies in the Mpumalanga Province.
On 31 August, Minister Ndebele instructed law enforcement officers to stop and check every bus and taxi on South Africa's roads, following the deaths of at least 76 people last month (August 2011) in eight separate crashes involving public transport vehicles (buses and mini-bus taxis) in KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga, Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape.
Enquiries:
Ashref Ismail
Cell: 071 680 3448
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 6444 050
