Festive season pedestrian deaths down in Western Cape

WHILE the province has recorded a decline in people who lost their lives on the roads over the festive season, pedestrian deaths remain a concern.

This was according to Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, who yesterday released the 2020/21 festive season statistics recorded between December 1 and January 11.

The province saw a 15% decline, with 132 deaths compared to 157 in 2019/2020.

“We expected a huge influx of vehicular traffic from other parts of the country.

“In total, over 1 million vehicles entered the province between December 1 and January 1. About 2 077 987 vehicles were recorded during the same period in 2019.

“Pedestrian deaths remain a concern although there has been a notable decline compared to the previous year.

“A total of 59 people died on our roads during this period and this was followed by 38 passengers who died during crashes,” said Madikizela.

Regarding renewed calls for stricter regulations of farmworker and construction worker transportation in open trucks and bakkies following a truck accident this week in which 80 people were injured, Madikizela said there were ongoing discussions with the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, and other stakeholders including farmers.

Meanwhile provincial Traffic Law Enforcement’s Vigie Chetty said some road users continued to disregard the law, with six people arrested after “blatantly” attempting to bribe traffic officers.

“Our tolerance in the Western Cape is you don’t try to bribe our officers.

“Covid-19 restrictions on court appearances have delayed us receiving a report on progress of prosecution rate.

“We will follow up with our counterparts from the Justice Department and see the sanctions and charges.”

The number of people arrested for drunken driving decreased to 89 from 476 in 2019/20.

“Overall, the total number of arrests decreased to 223 in 2020/21 from 808 in 2019/20.

“The monetary value of all charges, suspensions and arrests is R29 559 758,” Chetty said.