Durban - MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison in KwaZulu-Natal, Bheki Ntuli, has called for an urgent meeting with roleplayers in the freight industry after a crash between two trucks and a minibus on Monday night claimed the lives of 14 people.
According to reports, the vehicles were travelling on the N3 from Durban to Gauteng when tragedy struck.
Preliminary reports indicate that a minibus taxi was travelling in-between two trucks. The truck that was in front of the minibus taxi jack-knifed causing the taxi to crash into it. The truck that was travelling behind the minibus taxi then crashed into the taxi.
Ntuli said in the lead-up to the festive season, government has intensified multi-disciplinary law enforcement operations which is focused on driver compliance in order to reduce road fatalities. The past few roadblocks have been targeting heavy vehicles due to the high representation of these types of vehicles in fatal and serious injury collisions across the province in recent weeks.
"We have also called for an urgent meeting with the freight industry in order to address the high number of crashes involving heavy vehicles. Collectively, as government, the private sector and civil society, we must work together to end the scourge of road fatalities. The loss of one life is one too many but the death toll of this magnitude in one accident is very devastating. We send our sincere condolences to the bereaved families and vow to work even harder to improve visibility of law enforcement and road-user education which is highly critical in order to put an end to the carnage on our roads," the MEC said.
Last month, 16 people were killed in a crash on the R34 between Melmoth and Ulundi. According to reports, a minibus taxi and a truck collided head-on. The taxi caught alight and 15 people, including an unborn baby, died at the scene.
The IFP's spokesperson for Transport, Steven Moodley has meanwhile called for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to scrutinise the government’s approach to Road Safety. | IOL