Durban — The Transport Ministry had neither denied, nor confirmed, that Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula had seen tweets he was tagged in from a concerned resident of Pongola, warning of a potentially fatal crash on the N2 running through the town.
Already in 2019, Jabu Hansen had made a plea to the minister for some sort of traffic control on the road. Every time he made the appeal, he attached videos of trucks disregarding the rules of the road.
On Friday, 19 pupils and two adults perished in a collision between a truck and a light motor vehicle on a sharp bend on the N2 between Pongola and Itshelejuba.
On Monday, the truck driver, who handed himself over to police, is expected to appear in the Pongola Magistrate’s Court. He had fled the scene following the crash.
Concerned residents said their pleas for robots and/or authorities to man the road in the town had fallen on deaf ears. Resident Adrian Channing Pearce started a Facebook page to draw attention to the increase in traffic volumes on the N2 between Piet Retief and Durban six months ago.
In one of his tweets to the minister and Sanral, Hansen said: “Trucks are killing us in Pongola on the N2. No traffic cops manning this route except local traffic cops when trucks get to town. We request your urgent intervention.”
When asked if the ministry had seen Hansen’s warnings, spokesperson Lwaphesheya Khoza said the minister had learnt through the Road Traffic Management Corporation of the accident scene in which the 21 people died.
“Crash investigators from the RTMC have started investigation in collaboration with the police and provincial traffic authorities. Authorities of the law will use all available evidence to ensure the conclusion of their investigation and bring about justice to the families of the deceased, as well as the community of Pongola,” she said.
With less than three months before the festive season, which is associated with a high number of road crashes, KwaZulu-Natal has, in the first nine months of the year, seen at least 85 road deaths.
Statistics released by the Department of Transport in January relating to the festive season of 2021 showed that a total of 1 685 fatalities were recorded over that festive period. This was a 14% increase from the same period the year before.
The stats also reveal that road fatalities increased in seven provinces and declined in two provinces. Hansen said there were truck accidents almost every day on the N2 in Pongola.
“Truck drivers drive recklessly with no regard for other road users. I reached out a second time to the minister on Twitter, because I know he is very active, and I reached out a second time after provincial transport had told him that Sanral was responsible for the N2.”
He said the biggest problem right now was not having any authority take responsibility and man the road running through the town.
“We don’t have RTMC here. RTI is not in Pongola, they are only in Jozini and Nongoma when Nongoma has no national road. At a fatal accident, you wait five hours for forensics to come from Vryheid.”
KZN Transport spokesperson Kwanele Ncalane said MEC Sipho Hlomuka hoped the arrest of the driver believed to be behind the Pongola crash would serve as a deterrent to others.
He explained that the location where the crash happened was on a bend and robots couldn’t be put there.
“RTI functioned using an operational plan and deployment. Today as government head to Pongola with Sanral, it is to also engage stakeholders to discuss interventions such as speed-calming measures.”
Ncalane said the issue of major roads running through towns was not facing Pongola alone.
The mass casualty crashes began in May:
Sixteen people died in a crash on the N3 in Townhill South here its alleged a truck had an accident and was laying on its side subsequently an hour later another truck alleged to have been unable to stop ploughed into a taxi with occupants.
JUNE
On June 26, 2022, at about 8.32pm, on P47 in Vryheid near Mondlo. It was reported that an accident occurred between a bakkie and a light motor vehicle. Five occupants who are believed to be from a light motor vehicle succumbed to the injuries and died on the scene.
Six died on the N3 in Cliffdale, between Pietermaritzburg and Durban where 10 occupants including a child, were involved in the crash It is alleged that the accident occurred when the driver was trying to avoid another vehicle and lost control. Five people died on the scene and another person died on the way to the hospital. The remaining occupants were then taken to RK Khan hospital and Northdale Hospital for medical attention.
Five people died on the R66 in Eshowe when a minibus taxi collided with a ford ranger instantly killing the five occupants of the taxi.
JULY
Twelve people including a policeman died in an accident on the R617, near Howick in the Midlands where. According to reports, a passenger in a taxi that had been carrying 11 occupants including the driver somehow exited the moving car's window. Two of the taxi's occupants got out to check on the man on the ground, and security and a police van arrived on the scene. While officers and security were on scene with some of the passengers leaning against the road's rail guards a "speeding" van ploughed into them.
Six people including a baby die on the N11 heading towards Newcastle, just after the Elandslaagte turn-off. Three vehicles collided and one of them caught alight.
10 people dead on P291 between Babanango and Nquthu. Reports at the time suggested that a fully laden minibus taxi travelling from Nquthu towards Babanango collided head-on with a light motor vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. The taxi caught fire with passengers trapped inside. Seven people were declared dead on the scene, while 11 others sustained serious injuries. Three others were confirmed dead this morning after they succumbed in a local hospital.
AUGUST
Seven people die in a bakkie crash between Ixopo and Highflats. The accident happened on Sunday (August 28, 2022) in the late hours of the day on main road R612. Six people died on the scene while one later died in a local hospital according to the police. Amongst the deceased were four staff members from a local Boxer store who were among occupants in a bakkie. It is believed they were coming from a traditional function in Highflats to Fairview. The driver was arrested and faces various counts including culpable homicide and negligent driving in the Ixopo Magistrate Court
SEPTEMBER
Pongola - 19 school children and two adults were killed in a crash in Pongola on the N2 in the eMakhalathini area in a collision between a bakkie and a truck.
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