KZN Premier Mr Sihle Zikalala today paid his respects to victims of a harrowing accident which left 15 people dead last week. The accident took place in the morning of 21 October 2020 on the R66 when a truck and a minibus taxi collided. The truck was going towards Melmoth while the minibus taxi was ferrying passengers travelling from Nongoma to Durban.
“We have on our way here driven past the scene of the accident. We saw with our own eyes the location of this tragic accident and where our fellow citizens perished. It was one of the saddest and most tragic accidents in our province given that the vehicles caught fire and the victims were also burnt. The fact that there was fire involved in the accident makes us even wonder, what if there was no fire, would our relatives have survived?”
“It is with a great sense of loss and sadness that we join you as the community of Nongoma to mourn the dearly departed together with you. We join this moment of tragedy which happened because means of transport were involved in a terrible collision that led to the death of 15 people,” said Zikalala during a memorial service held for the victims in Nongoma today.
Zikalala said what makes this latest road accident even worse, is the fact that “only two weeks ago, we found ourselves in a similar event, gathered in the shadow of the Drakensberg mountains in the area of Kilmon near Bulwer in the Harry Gwala District. There we were to lay to rest the mortal remains of 13 members of the Mndali family,” said Zikalala saying all victims died in a single vehicle accident.
Premier Zikalala has drawn a line in the sand and declared war against road deaths in the province.
He called on the entire transport sector to work to work in close collaboration 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year to ensure that KZN road deaths are stopped.
"When we call for a zero tolerance approach to road deaths, it is because we mean it. Law enforcement led by all agencies of government must enforce the law without fail.
We have seen enough. We have had enough road deaths. If we do not do anything about this we will be complicit in the massacre of thousands of otherwise healthy people who die on our roads every day".
Every road user must adhere to the rules of the road, even when no one is looking.
Every road user must act as police and the eyes of when there is transgression and report it before an accident happens. Road safety is our collective responsibility. Let us all stand up and be counted so we can end this epidemic".
“In the Kilmon accident, we lost three generations of one family, many of whom could have made major contribution to the betterment of KwaZulu Natal and their families,” said Zikalala.
“Similarly, we have lost every generation in this accident, a cost to the province more than anything, a devastation to the children, the mothers, fathers and relatives. You have lost your flesh and blood, the pain is deeper and the loss permanent.
We trust that with our presence and words we can share the pain and make the journey to healing of the hearts even easier,” he said.
Zikalala said these are just two of the over 1400 accidents that take place on South Africa’s roads every day. They are representative of the over 40 deaths every day on our roads.
“In fact, we estimate that over 130 people have died on KwaZulu Natal roads since the start of the lockdown in March. In 2019 KZN recorded 267 crashes with 328 fatalities.
This was the highest in the country and included the December holidays. Eastern Cape was number two with 238 fatalities, followed by Gauteng with 219, Limpopo with 178 and Mpumalanga with 162. The Free State had 159 fatalities, while Western Cape had 149, North West had 125 and Northern Cape recorded 54.”
For more information, contact:
Lennox Mabaso
KZN Provincial Government Spokesperson
Cell: 082 884 2403
