Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana has a serious conundrum regarding bakkies operating as taxis.
In a mass funeral of eight people in May last year in Qhumanco, Tikana said: “A bakkie is not in compliance and will, unfortunately, not be allowed to operate.”
But on Saturday, she seemed to be contemplating a U-turn.
Addressing mourners in Mqanduli at a mass funeral for nine of the 12 people who were killed in a horrific bakkie accident two weeks ago, Tikana confided her dilemma to the mourners.
Two of the deceased were buried last week and one was buried on Sunday.
Tikana used to be adamant that public transport vehicles must have emergency doors and safety belts.
However: “We have a big challenge because the people who own these bakkies say they are unemployed and their bakkies are their only means to survive,” she said on Saturday. “We noticed that some people who own the bakkies are also taxi owners but because of the gravel roads in rural areas, decided not to drive their taxis.”
She said even though traffic officers did their jobs “we ask that drivers obey the rules of the road and do not drive without papers”.
“We are here today because someone who did not have a licence decided to drive a bakkie,” Tikana said.
She admitted that more still needed to be done to create road awareness.
“We do not wish that anyone dies on our roads.”
Families who gathered near Putuma High School were in a sombre mood looking at the nine coffins, but some said they had made peace with their loved ones’ untimely deaths.
Nomfezeko Khatha, who lost her two cousins, said the family was learning to live with the loss.
“The accident was really bad. We thank the government for everything they did for us,” she said.
Nqukumbana Makhubalo asked Tikana’s department to put up speed humps on the road, saying many deadly accidents had happened over the past years.
“We have raised that before and we did again when the MEC was visiting our homes and we hope that now something will be done to prevent these accidents.”..