The Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, with various stakeholders launched the 2024 Easter Road Safety Campaign. The Easter campaign signifies a period of heightened awareness in order to ensure safer roads for all travellers during the Easter long weekend.

The goal of the campaign, according to the department of transport, is to raise awareness about road safety and decrease the number of accidents on the roads during Easter. Minister Chikunga said 2024 theme 'Fika Usaphila' (Arrive Alive) emphasises the importance of being cautious and making safe choices while traveling to prevent accidents and ensure a safe arrival at one's destination.

"Easter is a time for celebration, but it is also a time when roads can be more dangerous due to increased traffic and holiday festivities. Therefore, road users are reminded to ensure that their vehicle is roadworthy and in good condition, avoid driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, obey speed limits and drive accordingly and be mindful of other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians and to always wear their seatbelts." Chikunga said by following these simple tips, everyone can all do their part in ensuring that roads are safe for everyone this Easter. "Let's make sure that the only thing we're celebrating this holiday is the joy of being with loved ones and not the sadness of a preventable road accidents. Drive safely,"

PLAN TO REDUCE ROAD FATALITIES

The minister also said her department has a target to reduce road fatalities by 15% this Easter. Lat year, the number of fatalities increased by 37% from 184 in 2022 to 252 in 2023. "Every province has been given a target based on the number of fatalities experienced last year. Mpumalanga must reduce the fatalities from 20 to 17, Limpopo from 43 to 37, KwaZulu-Natal from 64 to 54, Gauteng from 47 to 40, Eastern Cape from 41 to 35, Free State from 21 to 18, Western Cape from 28 to 24, North West from 10 to nine, Northern Cape from four to three,' the minister said. She added that the department has also deployed law enforcement agencies to major routes in KZN, Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and the Free State to curb road carnage.

Meanwhile Border Management Authorities Commissioner Dr Mike Masiapato says they have deployed 400 additional junior guards at Beitbridge border post, Lebombo, Ficksburg, Maseru Bridge, Telle Bridge, Kosi Bay and Grobler's Bridge. Masiapato added that with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) opening its doors for Easter Pilgrimage since 2020 when they closed due to Covid-19, scores of people are expected to cross the borders. "Upon realising the need for additional capacity, we increased our human resource deployment for immigration, law enforcement duties as well as providing capacity for operational and tactical support across our ports of entry. We will be deploying the 400 additional junior border guards who are currently at college. We're deploying them for experiential learning on the port of entry as they have been trained across all of the various activities that take place at the ports and our targeted ports are the busiest ports of entry."