Protocol observed
It is indeed with profound sadness that we are gathered here today to mourn the passing away of five people, who died on Tuesday as a result of an accident involving a bus and a bakkie.
It is unfortunate that one is still attending services like these when just two months ago our province did well in reducing road fatalities during the last Easter holidays. Our challenge now is that despite our commitment to ensuring the safety of our people, we continue to lose people on our roads.
The transport law does not allow bakkies to transport people. We appeal to parents to take full responsibility for their children’s lives. Children should not be packed in bakkies like sardines. But we also have a problem with drivers of large vehicles, such as buses and trucks, who have no respect for other motorists. Reckless drivers contribute directly to increased poverty in the country. Our innocent people are leaving their families in poverty in a country that is working hard to remove the adverse effects of the apartheid system on the majority of its citizens. Life always turns bad for the family members who are still alive.
The numbers of HIV and AIDS related deaths versus those of road accidents is too close. The difference between these two is that with HIV and AIDS, the families get to prepare and also have a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. But with road accidents, the families see the person leave in the morning and expect to see them return in the evening but they never do. Another thing is that breadwinners die on our roads and we are thus faced with too many child headed households.
We are very concerned about the high rate of deaths amongst youngsters as a result of road related incidents thus depriving the country of valuable talents. We are losing the youth and future leaders of this country, the newly graduated professionals who are at the root of the country’s economy. When one dies we are all at a loss as a nation. We would like to pass condolences to the families of the following:
Name: Khulekani Khumalo
Age: 12 Years
Gender: Male
Name: Siphamandla Ngubane
Age: 23 Years
Gender: Male
Name: Sibusiso Zondi
Age: 15 Years
Gender: Male
Name: Mable M Khumalo
Age: 36 Years
Gender: Female
Name: Lucky N Gumede
Age: 42 Years
Gender: Male
Name: Siphelele Nxumalo
Age: 15 Years
Gender: Male
We hope that one day the dead will open the eyes of the living and that people realise that road accidents are no accidents, this is murder, reckless driving and irresponsible conduct on the road are murder.
I thank you
Source: Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
