Stop the carnage, public told

Festive safety plan revealed

AS DURBANITES and visitors revel in the festive season, law enforcement agencies have appealed to the public to comply with road rules to curb the carnage.

The departments of Human Settlements and Public Works yesterday revealed the province’s safety plan.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison has deployed more than 24 000 personnel consisting of eThekwini metro police, members of the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI), cross-border personnel, emergency medical services and SANDF personnel, among others, to try to curb crime on the roads, beaches and parks.

Also included in this number is 17 766 SAPS members who will be working with the officers from the different directorates.

Private rescue services are also on standby.

During a road show in Kokstad and uMzimkhulu to promote a safe festive season, provincial MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Ravi Pillay, appealed to motorists and taxi drivers to adhere to the rules of the road.

Pillay is the MEC championing the campaign in the Harry Gwala District, south of the province.

He said KZN was the second most populous province, after Gauteng – with 10.9 million citizens who make up 19.9% of the country’s population. It also attracts the second highest number of visitors, especially during the festive season. Pillay said the province had: The third highest number of registered vehicles at approximately 1.5 million, growing annually at about 25%.

A number of international (Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique) and national borders (Free State, Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape).

The country’s busiest ports, Durban and Richards Bay.

Pillay said: “The safe festive season campaign looks to ensure that the people of KZN and visitors are safe on the roads, homes, shopping malls, beaches, tourist destinations and wherever they are in the province.

“The provincial operational plan, which has already swung into action, will be in place until January 31,” he said.

Vital

RTI spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu said it was vital that accurate and relevant details were collected if motorists came across an accident/ incident.

“This will facilitate the dispatching of appropriate resources and help to prevent an unnecessary response. The most accurate location details can be obtained from the blue kilometre marker boards erected every 200m along national roads. Yellow concrete pillars are erected every 1km along provincial roads,” she said.

She said driving under the influence of alcohol, and talking on the phone while driving, were the common habits that led to accidents.

Mngomezulu also said hot spots shifted from area to area.

“We have previously marked areas prone to accidents and have since realised that accidents have occurred in other areas. Dangerous roads are the N2 and N3,” she said.

The ambulance services were on high alert and wanted to speed up response times, said Emergency Medical Services KZN spokesman Robert McKenzie.

“Callers must understand that we have to ask questions to determine how severe the case is and resources required.

“We need clear and concise feedback, patient details, exact locations, landmarks, and most importantly, contact numbers for paramedics to call if they need directions,” he said.

The Specialised Rescue Team (SRU), a group of volunteers in Ballito, north of Durban, has already begun safeguarding their area between Ballito and Salt Rock.

Quentin Power, SRU spokesman, said they had done safety swims between Ballito and Salt Rock.

In preparation, yesterday morning they had 21 fishing kayaks off Tiffanys; 12 kayaks off Ballito; and eight jet skis and four boats off Ballito.

Rajesh Mahabeer, of Sharaj Ambulances in Ladysmith, said: “We have eight vehicles on standby including a disaster trailer that caters for patients at accident scenes in the Ladysmith and Estcourt areas. If people can stop drinking and driving and ensure the roadworthiness of their vehicles, we can all be safe.”