KZN Easter road death toll – DoT must roll out mass ‘pedestrian education’ campaign
18 April 2018
The Democratic Alliance will today call on KZN Transport MEC, Mxolisi Kaunda, to urgently roll out a mass province-wide campaign – which must include SAPS, Traditional Leaders and the Provincial Health, Social Development and Education Departments – which is aimed at educating pedestrians on the dangers of the road.
The call comes following the release of the country’s Easter road death toll which was 510. KZN emerged as the province with the highest number of deaths at 111.
The DA is extremely saddened by this figure. It represents the loss of fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, children and grandchildren. While we acknowledge that the figure is for the entire 12-day period school holiday period – rather than in the past when it was for the four day Easter weekend – it remains staggering and it is clear that current preventative measures by the Department of Transport (DoT) are not working.
Of particular concern are the country’s overall pedestrian death toll figures for Easter which account for almost 40% of all deaths, with an increase from 33.8% in 2017 to 37.3% this year. According to National Transport Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, there was a noticeable shift towards the rural poor who often use the roads as pedestrians.