Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced that during the 2013 festive season, the Eastern Cape registered 158 accidents. 190 people lost their lives on the region's roads.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced that during the 2013 festive season, the Eastern Cape registered 158 accidents. 190 people lost their lives on the region's roads.
The chance of being involved in a fatal accident in South Africa is the highest in the Eastern Cape (EC). Between 2010 and 2011, the province had 21.43 fatal crashes per 10 000 motorised vehicles, and a 22.26% increase in the number fatal crashes.
The two most dangerous roads which have claimed a record number of lives in South Africa can be found in the Eastern Cape. The N2 between East London and Mthatha, the country’s most dangerous road, saw 90 deaths in a year; while the route between Mthatha and Kokstad comes in second with 77 fatalities.
The Road and Traffic Management Corporation’s (RTMC) Annual Report (2010/2011) reveals that while the national average of deadly crashes had decreased by 0.94%, with 10845 fatal incidents occurring between 2010 and 2011; the Eastern Cape saw a 20.43% increase in deaths.
Causes of carnage
RTMC communications officer Luthando Ngilana says the “disturbing” fatality rate is due to the high number of roadworthy vehicles, reckless driving, motorists using cellphones, as well as drunk driving.
RTMC’s Report shows that the Eastern Cape is the province with the greatest number of arrests for road traffic offences, including driving whilst under the influence, and dangerous driving.
6 576 Eastern Cape drivers were arrested between October 2010 and March 2011 for related offences – the most nation-wide. The Northern Cape saw only 330 arrests in the same category.
While the number of unroadworthy vehicles decreased by 1.95% between 2010 and 2011 on a national level, the Eastern Cape has a 3.29% increase in the number of unroadworthy vehicles recorded.
In the same period, the recorded number of unlicensed vehicles also increased by 10.59%. The national change was only 2.56%.
Caution: pedestrians
The Eastern Cape also saw the largest growth in the number of pedestrian fatalities a 28.27% increase according to the report.
The City Press reported that Mdantsane villagers dug up sections of a road where a five-year-old was hit by a speeding bakkie on 3 September 2013. The toddler was the fourth person to be killed by speeding vehicles in a stretch that residents dubbed ‘the road of death’. Residents, reportedly tired of waiting for the Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) to install traffic calming measures, ripped up sections of the tar to force motorists to slow down.
RTMC spokesman Ashref Ismail said that most accidents occur due to the irresponsible behaviour of drivers who have no regard for other road users.
Ismail says most South Africans aren’t too concerned about the rules of the road.
"Our attitudes towards driving stinks. Many lives are being lost on a daily basis, yet people don't seem to care."
Many concerned citizens have criticised Eastern Cape traffic officers for not doing enough visible traffic policing which could deter bad driving.
The reported number of vehicles stopped and screened along Eastern Cape roads from October 2010 to March 2011 comes to a meagre 482010 in total, or 80335 per month – short of the average monthly target of 85000 vehicles.
In response to a question from UDM leader Bantu Holomisa related to the Eastern Cape ‘death stretch’, President Jacob Zuma told parliament that the government needed to deal with the Eastern Cape holistically and only with the question of traffic congestion.
Plans to build a railway line between Durban and Cape Town in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion on the most dangerous road between East London and Kokstad are in the pipeline.
