Failed intervention strategies by Eastern Cape transport MEC Weziwe Tikana may be behind the province recording the second highest number of road deaths in the country with 238 lives lost in 195 accidents, DA MPL Marshall von Buchenroder believes.
Transport minister Blade Nzimande released the festive season road fatalities report on Wednesday, where he said 1,612 people lost their lives nationally from 1,286 accidents.
The statistics were compiled by the Road Traffic Management Corporation from December 1 2018 to January 15.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of road deaths in the country after 328 people died in 267 crashes.
The death toll in the Eastern Cape is up from the previous season, where 213 lives were lost in 173 accidents from December 1 2017 to January 15 2018, Von Buchenroder said on Thursday.
He said the fact that 90% of road deaths over this period have been attributed to human factors was a clear indication of blatant disregard for the rules of the road.
“It is clear MEC Weziwe Tikana’s intervention strategy has failed to reduce the number of fatalities on the roads. This is simply unacceptable. One life lost is a life too many. Where is the 24-hour law enforcement that we were promised during her budget speech last year?
“Traffic officials need to come down hard on unlawful road users whose behaviour puts their own lives and those of others in danger.
“People must be given the opportunity to get into a vehicle knowing that there is proper law enforcement on the roads, 24 hours a day?” said Von Buchenroder.
In a response to Buchenroder’s attack, Tikana said the criticism was political mudslinging.
In a statement to the Daily Dispatch, Tikana’s spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, said: “The MEC is deeply disturbed by the high number of road accident fatalities recorded in the Eastern Cape over the festive season.
“However, she wishes to urge the DA to refrain from using the grief and agony of the families who lost their loved ones in road accidents for political mudslinging.”
Binqose warned reckless drivers that the law would catch up with them, saying they would be punished “harshly”.
He said most of the fatalities were recorded during the rush where scores of people were making their way home and holiday destinations.
“We improved quite significantly on the later phase as they headed back, and we wish to extend a word of gratitude to all our law enforcement personnel, from traffic officers to SAPS, EMS and all our partners, for their hard work.”
Binqose said the transport department was engaged in continuous consultations with traffic officers over the implementation of the 24 hour shift...