Bus strike linked to high Easter road toll

Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga and the chairperson of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Zola Majavu, said the bus strike had an effect on the high death toll.

“I believe the bus strike contributed (to the death toll) because it forced people to (use) motor vehicles, and motor vehicles contributed to 49% of road deaths,” Chikunga said.

Majavu said the bus strike affected plans that the RTMC had to decrease the road deaths this year as people had to use their own vehicles.

“The vehicle types that made a high contribution to fatal crashes were cars and LDVs, with contributions of 49% and 20% respectively. Minibuses contributed 7.6% and buses 1.1%, which indicates that most of the passengers who died were travelling in cars,” Maswanganyi said.

Bus drivers seeking a 12 to 15% wage increase went on strike just before the start of the Easter weekend. The strike, which ended on Saturday with a 9% wage hike, inconvenienced many people who intended using buses to get to their Easter destinations. They were forced to resort to using alternative modes of transport, mostly private vehicles or minibus taxis.

Majavu said the RTMC had aimed to decrease roads fatalities by 50% this year, but the inverse was true, with an increase of 51%. “Even if we had achieved our target we would still be disappointed because we are still counting bodies like they are apples,” Majavu said.

The minister said there were about 12 million cars on the road this Easter compared with about 11 million last year.