Pretoria - Premier of the Free State Ace Magashule has encouraged motorists to be considerate and observe the rules of the roads during the Easter weekend.
“It is our collective responsibility to reduce the road carnage that renders our children orphaned, that breaks the resilience of families and renders our society vulnerable,” Premier Magashule said.
He has called on motorists not to speed, rest every two hours or every 200 kilometres and not to drink and drive. Motorists should also ensure that their vehicles are road worthy.
“The MEC of Police, Roads and Transport, Butana Komphela, is ready to take all offenders head on. His ultimate mission is to ensure that the Free State province contributes significantly to the attainment of the objectives of the Decade of Road Safety and the commitment of our country to reducing road fatalities,” MEC Magashule said.
Road safety in the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Weziwe Tikana, has also appealed to motorists to drive safely.
“We expect an increase in traffic volumes. We call on all road users to be extra cautious while driving pupils and students to various destinations.
“We are aware that Christians will also begin their trips to various parts of the province and our law enforcement agencies are ready to provide a safe passage for all of them 24 hours a day,” she said.
The MEC said they will build on the significant achievements of the 2014/15 festive season to improve on their performance during the Easter holidays.
During the previous festive season road safety campaign, the province managed to decrease road crashes by 50%, despite the increase in fatalities.
This year, MEC Tikana said their campaign will be under the national theme:“Together you can save millions of lives!”
“Our law enforcement agencies will ensure that we decisively deal with speed offences, alcohol related offences, overloading offences and pedestrians offences.
“We will further maintain our approach of holding joint operations with our neighbouring provinces like the Western Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, in particular, in a bid to safeguard our borders and limit entrance into the province of inappropriate drivers and vehicles,” she said.
MEC Tikana said they will continue with the permanent roadblocks on the notorious routes which include the N2 East-London - Mthatha - Kokstad, R61 Mthatha - Port St Johns – Mbizana, R61 – Aberdeen - Cradock – Ngcobo- Mthatha, R72 East London – Port Elizabeth and N6 Aliwal North – East London.
“We will further pay particular attention to criminal elements through high police visibility at all hot spots, shopping malls, banks, ATMS and places where large crowds gather, tourist destinations and special events and giving equal attention to both rural and urban areas of our province,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
