Good weather, a wide range of entertainment and safer roads ensured an enjoyable and relatively crime-free Easter holiday weekend in the Eastern Cape.
And by late yesterday, traffic officials were able to report that weekend road fatalities had dropped compared to Easter last year.
Despite concerns about stormy conditions along the coast and a rip tide, one drowning was reported by sea rescue authorities on East London’s Eastern Beach, although the body of the missing swimmer had not yet been recovered by late yesterday.
Bathers appeared to heed the warnings by lifesaving officials of a strong rip tide along the coast during the weekend.
Two suspected would-be robbers died at the hands of angry villagers in Libode and Tsolo.
Police said a 25-year-old man was severely assaulted by angry residents of Nxukhwebe village in Libode after trying to rob a spaza shop on Saturday.
The victim, together with another accomplice, allegedly tried to rob a spaza shop in the village but were set upon by villagers when the owners called for help.
They were chased and one of them managed to get away but the other was caught and assaulted with sticks.
He died at the scene.
In the second mob justice-related incident, a 30-year-old suspect was killed after being caught by angry villagers as he and his two accomplices tried to rob a resident in Mhlabathi village in Tsolo on Sunday.
Official national statistics on road deaths are only due to be released during the week but the Dispatch was told yesterday that fewer people had died on the province’s roads than in previous years.
The drop in fatalities coincided with a joint operation to curb road accidents mounted by provincial traffic officers, SA Police Services and municipal law enforcement agencies.
During the joint law enforcement operation to curb road accidents, about 18259 cars were stopped, 74 motorists arrested for drunken driving and 96 stray animals impounded.
Amathole District and Buffalo City Metro registered the highest number of fatalities compared to any other region in the province.
Provincial transport spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca said there had been 46 crashes and 14 fatalities on the province’s roads during the Easter weekend.
Fatalities included six passengers, five pedestrians and two drivers, while 26 people were severely injured and 35 slightly injured.
“We salute the collaboration of all law enforcement agencies,” Kumbaca said.
The accidents recorded included:
l14 accidents resulting in four fatalities in Sarah Baartman inclusive of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. Those who died were two passengers and two drivers;
l27 accidents resulting in five fatalities in Amathole inclusive of the Buffalo City Metro. The dead included a passenger, two pedestrians and two drivers;
l Two accidents resulting in one dead pedestrian in Chris Hani;
l Two accidents resulting in the death of a pedestrian in Alfred Nzo;
l Two accidents resulting in the death of a passenger and a pedestrian in Joe Gqabi; and
l One accident resulting in the death of a pedestrian in OR Tambo.
The N2 was again the route with the highest accidents, with seven collisions in total; the R63 accounted for five accidents, R72 recorded four accidents, R75 recorded three accidents.
Sandile road in Mdantsane accounted for three accidents and other routes accounted for the remainder of crashes in the province.
Around 8am yesterday, the driver of a GTI, Lwando Nyoka, escaped unhurt when his vehicle veered off the N2 road just along the Hemingways Mall and plummeted down a steep hill separating the two lanes of the freeway.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived on the scene his mother, Nombukelo Nyoka, was frantically trying to locate him on the phone.
The newspaper learnt from eyewitnesses that Lwando had left with a friend after the accident.
Attempts were made to get a comment from the police but were unsuccessful.
At Eastern Beach, the K-9 Unit continued to search for the body of a man presumed drowned on Saturday morning.
The man, believed to be 35 years old was with some friends when he got caught in a rip tide just after 8am.
Police suspect the man and his friends may have been at the beach overnight.
East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said: “We cannot speculate on whether or not the man was drunk at the time of his drowning nor can we confirm that his family has been notified by his friends of his drowning.
“The man's vehicle has since been taken to the Fleet Street Police station where it can be collected by his family.”
On Friday the Dispatch warned bathers about a dangerous combination of stormy surf and high spring tides beating the Eastern Cape shores.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesman Craig Lambinon attributed the high tides to the full moon spring tide.
“The full moon spring tide will cause stronger than normal rip currents around the coastline,” he said.
Lambinon said the institute had a very busy weekend with various incidents occurring through the country.
However, NSRI regional spokesman Geoff McGregor said they had only attended to the drowning on the Eastern Beach.
“Other than that, it has been quiet in East London and surrounding areas.”
Fewer die in E Cape accidents
And by late yesterday, traffic officials were able to report that weekend road fatalities had dropped compared to Easter last year.
Despite concerns about stormy conditions along the coast and a rip tide, one drowning was reported by sea rescue authorities on East London’s Eastern Beach, although the body of the missing swimmer had not yet been recovered by late yesterday.
Bathers appeared to heed the warnings by lifesaving officials of a strong rip tide along the coast during the weekend.
Two suspected would-be robbers died at the hands of angry villagers in Libode and Tsolo.
Police said a 25-year-old man was severely assaulted by angry residents of Nxukhwebe village in Libode after trying to rob a spaza shop on Saturday.
The victim, together with another accomplice, allegedly tried to rob a spaza shop in the village but were set upon by villagers when the owners called for help.
They were chased and one of them managed to get away but the other was caught and assaulted with sticks.
He died at the scene.
In the second mob justice-related incident, a 30-year-old suspect was killed after being caught by angry villagers as he and his two accomplices tried to rob a resident in Mhlabathi village in Tsolo on Sunday.
Official national statistics on road deaths are only due to be released during the week but the Dispatch was told yesterday that fewer people had died on the province’s roads than in previous years.
The drop in fatalities coincided with a joint operation to curb road accidents mounted by provincial traffic officers, SA Police Services and municipal law enforcement agencies.
During the joint law enforcement operation to curb road accidents, about 18259 cars were stopped, 74 motorists arrested for drunken driving and 96 stray animals impounded.
Amathole District and Buffalo City Metro registered the highest number of fatalities compared to any other region in the province.
Provincial transport spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca said there had been 46 crashes and 14 fatalities on the province’s roads during the Easter weekend.
Fatalities included six passengers, five pedestrians and two drivers, while 26 people were severely injured and 35 slightly injured.
“We salute the collaboration of all law enforcement agencies,” Kumbaca said.
The accidents recorded included:
l14 accidents resulting in four fatalities in Sarah Baartman inclusive of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. Those who died were two passengers and two drivers;
l27 accidents resulting in five fatalities in Amathole inclusive of the Buffalo City Metro. The dead included a passenger, two pedestrians and two drivers;
l Two accidents resulting in one dead pedestrian in Chris Hani;
l Two accidents resulting in the death of a pedestrian in Alfred Nzo;
l Two accidents resulting in the death of a passenger and a pedestrian in Joe Gqabi; and
l One accident resulting in the death of a pedestrian in OR Tambo.
The N2 was again the route with the highest accidents, with seven collisions in total; the R63 accounted for five accidents, R72 recorded four accidents, R75 recorded three accidents.
Sandile road in Mdantsane accounted for three accidents and other routes accounted for the remainder of crashes in the province.
Around 8am yesterday, the driver of a GTI, Lwando Nyoka, escaped unhurt when his vehicle veered off the N2 road just along the Hemingways Mall and plummeted down a steep hill separating the two lanes of the freeway.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived on the scene his mother, Nombukelo Nyoka, was frantically trying to locate him on the phone.
The newspaper learnt from eyewitnesses that Lwando had left with a friend after the accident.
Attempts were made to get a comment from the police but were unsuccessful.
At Eastern Beach, the K-9 Unit continued to search for the body of a man presumed drowned on Saturday morning.
The man, believed to be 35 years old was with some friends when he got caught in a rip tide just after 8am.
Police suspect the man and his friends may have been at the beach overnight.
East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said: “We cannot speculate on whether or not the man was drunk at the time of his drowning nor can we confirm that his family has been notified by his friends of his drowning.
“The man's vehicle has since been taken to the Fleet Street Police station where it can be collected by his family.”
On Friday the Dispatch warned bathers about a dangerous combination of stormy surf and high spring tides beating the Eastern Cape shores.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesman Craig Lambinon attributed the high tides to the full moon spring tide.
“The full moon spring tide will cause stronger than normal rip currents around the coastline,” he said.
Lambinon said the institute had a very busy weekend with various incidents occurring through the country.
However, NSRI regional spokesman Geoff McGregor said they had only attended to the drowning on the Eastern Beach.
“Other than that, it has been quiet in East London and surrounding areas.”
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