Minister Fikile Mbalula: Preliminary report on Tshwane accident

Statement by Minister of Transport Mr Fikile Mbalula on the release of the preliminary report on the bus/truck crash that killed 15 people in Tshwane

Distinguished guests 
Ladies and gentlemen, 

The World Health Organization informs us that  “Road traffic crashes result in the deaths of approximately 1.3 million people around the world each year and leave between 20 and 50 million people with non-fatal injuries. More than half of all road traffic deaths and injuries involve vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and their passengers.

The young are particularly vulnerable on the world’s roads and road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29.

Young males under 25 years are more likely to be involved in road traffic crashes than females, with 73% of all road traffic deaths occurring among young males.

Developing economies record higher rates of road traffic injuries, with 93% of fatalities coming from low- and middle-income countries.

In addition to the human suffering caused by road traffic injuries, they also incur a heavy economic burden on victims and their families, both through treatment costs for the injured and through loss of productivity of those killed or disabled.

More broadly, road traffic injuries seriously impact national economies, costing countries 3% of their annual gross domestic product.

Measures proven to reduce the risk of road traffic injuries and deaths exist and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set ambitious targets for reducing road traffic injuries.

On the early hours of the morning seven days ago on M17, the country experienced one of the most horrific road crashes between a bus and a truck. Fifteen (15) people died on the scene and 37 others were rushed to hospital with varying degrees of injuries for urgent medical attention 

Since the advent of this gruesome accident we frequently visited those in bereaved families. We know that almost all the people who died were the only breadwinners in the their families and they died while on their way to work to earn a living.

To assist the families to find the closure we have decided to come here to release a preliminary report on the investigation into the crash.

International standards followed in these kinds of circumstances require that we monitor those who were injured for 30 days before a final report is concluded.

I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to the Road Traffic Management Corporation crash investigation team, the South African Police and Tshwane Metro Police Department for the diligent work they have undertaken to speedily investigate the accident and compile the report that we are able to release today.

The report confirms that the crash happened in the early hours of the morning around 5h10. The bus was traveling in a southerly direction with 56 passengers on board. The truck carrying furniture was traveling in the opposite direction.

The bus veered from its original lane and into the path of the bus resulting in a head-on collision.

It was established that weather conditions at the time of the crash were clear and this was ruled out as a contributory factor. The road was also found to be in fair condition and not likely to have been a cause of contributory factor in the crash.

A full mechanical investigation was conducted on both vehicles and confirmed that there were no mechanical defects or failures that contributed to the occurrence of the crash. It was found that both vehicles were in a roadworthy state before the crash.

The report further states that both drivers had valid EC1 drivers’ licenses and Professional Driving Permits (PrDPs), though one of the drivers was a foreign national, he had all the required documentation including the valid register.

The report concluded that driver error is the major contributing factor to the cause of the crash because the truck driver allowed his vehicle to veer off its original lane of travel onto the oncoming lane resulting in a head-on crash.

The contents of this report will be brought to the attention of the Directorate of Public Prosecution for their consideration.

It is unfortunate and lamentable to the extreme since both of the drivers died and consequently, no one can be charged either for reckless and negligent driving and or culpable homicide.

In these circumstances this matter will be the subject of an Inquest and the Presiding Officer (Magistrate) assigned with this case will have to make a finding after the leading of evidence by eyewitnesses. 

Ladies and gentlemen road crashes involving busses and trucks are a matter of grave concern to the department of transport and government in general.

These crashes place a heavy burden on the health sector and the economy as they involve a high number of fatalities where the victims are economically active members of society. The pain is felt deeply by households that are left without breadwinners and children who are left orphaned without a parent to guide them through the challenges of life.

An analysis conducted by the RTMC on major crashes involving busses and trucks countrywide from January 1 2020 to June,15 2022 reveals the following.

  • Busses were involved in 18 major crashes in the period in which 178 people were killed and 600 suffered various degrees of injuries whereas
  • Trucks were involved in 71 major crashes in which 463 people were killed and 431 suffered various degrees of injuries.

Clearly, this is an unsatisfactory situation because we know that road crashes are avoidable if people exercise necessary and respect the rules of the road.

The RTMC will in the next few days urgently convene the National Road Safety Steering Committee (NRSSC) to look at impactful interventions that need to be implemented by all provincial and local traffic authorities to bring down the number of horror crashes in the country.

A disturbing trend that has been observed recently is that more trucks are avoiding national and regional routes and using arterial municipal roads.

This is where that horror crashes involving multiple fatalities are now happening. The NRSSC will have to revise their traffic officer deployment strategy and ensure that arterial routes receive high priority to push heavy vehicles back on to the national and regional routes.

A plan will also be put in place to hold truck and bus operators (owners) accountable for the conduct of their drivers on the road even if this warrants legislative amendment The National Land Transportation Act clearly stipulates that operators must exercise control over their drivers.

Where evidence exists that an operator failed in their duties, criminal charges must be brought against them as well.

Ensuring effective implementation of the safe system is essential to the attainment of the global goal to halve road traffic deaths by 2030. Declarations, resolutions and accession to conventions alone will not yield improvements unless they are translated into concrete actions in our country.

Improving the road safety situation in a country requires a continued and sustained cycle of planning, executing and evaluating programmes.

Implementing a continuous cycle of road safety improvement should begin with an assessment of the existing road safety system, followed by the development, execution and evaluation of national and local plans of action by different actors within the system.

This points to the importance of sharing of responsibility by different government agencies and involving—through consultative processes- other stakeholders, including the public, the private sector and civil society, in improving road safety in a country.

As I conclude I wish to take this opportunity to thank the emergency service personnel to quickly responding when last week’s crash occurred.

Their quick response helped in ensuring lives were saved.  A sincere word of gratitude also goes out to the nurses and doctors that treated the injured.

The country is proud to have men and women of their caliber. 

I also thank the crash investigation teams and the members of forensic pathology for the diligence shown in completing their work in the shortest time possible thus allowing families to have closure.

To them, I say keep up the good work and we are honored to have you in our services.

As we take the country into our confidence, we will simultaneously provide the affected families with copies of the crash investigation report by the close of the business day. 

Since the accident occurrence of the accident, the government has been hard at work as we always do, providing the social relief through the Department of Social Development, Road Accident Fund (RAF) assisting both families, those hospitalized and the bereaved families with social benefits, burial assistance and claiming process as legislative requirements. 

Government engagement with truck drivers and key stakeholders on the verge of conclusive agreement

This week, we continued our engagements with truck drivers until late on Tuesday, 14 June 2022 and we believe we are on the verge of concluding an agreement on the proposed interventions.  

The Tuesday discussions were on the back of previous engagements where government took the stakeholders into confidence on the measures being implemented to address the issues previously raised.

I have been working around the clock with Ministers of Labor & Employment and Home Affairs together with affected stakeholders to address the issues raised by the truck drivers and small truck operators.  

We have taken note of the complaints about the sluggish pace of implementing interventions in areas that we have agreed on.  

A follow-up engagement is scheduled for Sunday, 19 June 2022, with all stakeholders. 

We therefore call for an end to the blockade of the roads and for truck drivers to allow the engagement process to run its course.  

We must all appreciate that we all have a responsibility to ensure that economic activity is not hampered as this will inevitably lead to job losses as a result of economic downturn.

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