Sanco calls for stiff penalties

NEEDS TO DRASTICALLY CHANGE TO REDUCE ROAD DEATHS, SAYS CIVIC ORGANISATION 16 preschool children hurt in crash days after 20 die in horrific accident on the R25.

Sixteen preschool children were injured yesterday morning after the minibus taxi in which they were travelling lost control and rolled several times along the Umgudulu Road in Reservoir Hills, Durban.

Rescue Care operations director Garrith Jamieson said paramedics found injured children on the side of the road.

They established that the minibus taxi had rolled several times before coming to rest on its roof. The taxi was carrying children to their preschool.

“Sixteen children were injured and once all the injured had been stabilised on the scene, they were transported to various Durban hospitals for the further care that they required,” said Jamieson.

The cause of the crash has yet to be established. The SA Police Service is investigating.

The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), meanwhile, called for a change in driver behaviour to reduce carnage on public roads.

Last week, 20 people, including 18 pupils, died in a minibus taxi accident on the border between Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

“The horrific crash has devastated families that are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of their children, as well as communities from which they come from and commuted daily to, and the entire nation is in shock,” said Sanco spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu.

Mahlangu said that fast-tracking the implementation of the points demerit system, as well as zero tolerance road traffic enforcement, would help to eliminate reckless drivers and unroadworthy vehicles from public roads.

He said tough measures such as stiffer fines, suspension, as well as cancellation of licenses and forfeiture of cars would further contribute towards safer roads.

“Drunken driving, speeding and corruption related to issuing of driver’s licenses and traffic officers overlooking road offences for bribes represents the biggest threat to road safety,” he said.

Mahlangu said efforts needed to be redoubled to provide safer pupil transport and rid the road traffic law enforcement agencies of corrupt elements that were putting lives at risk.

“The 235 Easter death toll has once again reinforced our firm view that road safety campaigns must be stepped up in partnership with transport sector role players and the capacity of officials employed to carry out this important function increased,” he added.

Friday’s accident on the R25 between Verena in Mpumalanga and Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng resulted in the deaths of pupils from the Refano Primary School and Mahlenga Secondary School in Sokhulumi Village, near Bronkhorstspruit, in Gauteng.

The driver of the vehicle and a general worker from Refano Primary School were the other two fatalities when the taxi collided with a truck. – ANA