Road death toll 47
2003-10-31 16:38
Johannesburg - At least 47 people have been killed on South Africa's roads since Monday - a frightening figure considering that the festive season, notorious for road deaths, has not even begun yet.
On Thursday alone, a total of 38 people were killed in what could only be described as a day of carnage.
In the early hours of Thursday, a collision between a bus and a truck in the Karoo claimed the lives of 21 people.
A couple of hours later, four people were killed in a head-on collision in Camps Bay, Cape Town.
And just before midnight Thursday night, at least 13 people, including a baby, were killed when a bus driver lost control of his vehicle just outside Graaff-Reinet.
On Wednesday, another driver, this time a taxi driver driving along Durban Road in Bellville, near Cape Town, lost control of his vehicle, overturning it and killing at least one person - a pedestrian.
On Tuesday seven people, including an ambulance driver and five patients, were killed when an ambulance collided with a car between Britstown and Victoria West, also in the Karoo.
A woman was killed on Tuesday and two people were seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling overturned on the Outeniqua Pass between Oudtshoorn and George.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions has called on the Transport Department to act swiftly to ensure that more lives were not lost on the roads, especially ahead of the festive season.
"An urgent investigation should also be conducted on the roadworthiness of trucks and on drivers' working conditions," Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said.
Following Thursday's accident in the Karoo which claimed 21 lives, the Transport Department did in fact call for a thorough investigation into the incident.
A spokesperson for Transport Ministtry, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, said the national department had consulted the provincial department and other law enforcement agencies in the Karoo about a very thorough inquiry.
According to the Democratic Alliance, more than 500 000 accidents on average every year cost the country more than 10nbsp;000 lives and no less than R12bn.
The country also has a shortage of 30 000 traffic officers, the DA says.
- SAPA