By Lungani Zungu
Outgoing Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula was all smiles when he announced that road fatalities during the festive season had dropped from 1,685 in 2021 to 1,451 last year.
But the residents of Pongola said there is nothing to celebrate.
Eighteen school children and two adults died in the area after the bakkie they were travelling in collided with a truck in the area last September.
The residents are accusing Mbalula of failing to clamp down on the use of bakkies as a mode of transport in KwaZulu-Natal’s northern rural towns.
“I am raising this issue again,” said local community leader, Sabelo Nzimande.
Nzimande says there’s a need to hold government accountable.
“So that if there are any accidents involving bakkies, we will hold our government to account.”
He said people, including young children, are still using bakkies, many even without canopies to get to their destinations.
“This is wrong, but our law-enforcement authorities are doing nothing about it,” he said.
The bakkies operate in the deep rural villages and there are only a few taxis in the towns.
S’bu Buthelezi, a resident, told Scrolla.Africa that there arent enough taxis in the area.
“We have been pleading with the local leaders to help with safe and reliable transport such as buses and additional taxis,” said Buthelezi.
“Our plea is for the government to intervene and end this thing before more people die because of the bakkies.”
The National Traffic Road prohibits the transportation of schoolchildren in bakkies.
Mbalula, who is the outgoing Minister of Transport, is reparing to take up the full-time ANC secretary-general job at the party’s headquarters in Johannesburg. He presented the festive season road accident statistics on Tuesday.
Gauteng recorded the highest number of fatalities with 290 confirmed to have died on the province’s roads.
Pictured above: Pongola residents boarding bakkies to their respective destinations
Picture source: Supplied
