Over 600 vehicles stopped for roadworthiness issues as festive season nears
With the peak travel period approaching, traffic authorities have intensified checks, discontinuing and impounding hundreds of unsafe vehicles to keep roads safer.
As the festive season’s peak travel period approaches, traffic officers are intensifying enforcement and adopting a zero-tolerance stance towards unroadworthy vehicles.
According to the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, officers have stopped and checked 229 612 vehicles in the past few days in roadblocks conducted throughout the country.
“A total of 662 vehicles were discontinued because of roadworthiness issues such as smooth tyres, defective brakes, faulty lights, cracked windscreens, leaking engines, and steering that is not in good working order.
“Any three faults will result in the discontinuation of a vehicle.
“Officers impounded another 727 vehicles for violating the National Land Transportation Act, such as operating public transport for reward without operating permits,” stated Dlamini.
The provincial breakdown of the number of discontinued vehicles is:
• Gauteng – 28
• Eastern Cape – 14
• Free State – 7
• Limpopo – 13
• Mpumalanga – 137
• KwaZulu-Natal – 113
• North West – 3
• Western Cape – 71
• National Traffic Police – 134
• Northern Cape – 0
Dlamini advised motorists to fix their vehicles and ensure that they have no defects before embarking on long-distance journeys.
“Meanwhile, data stored on the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) reflects that there are 527 008 unroadworthy vehicles in the country.
“This is a slight improvement when compared to 2024, when the recorded number of unroadworthy vehicles was 604 881.
“These include buses, taxis,and commercial vehicles,” he said.
“In South Africa, commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle mass over 3 500 kg, including taxis and minibus taxis, are required to undergo annual roadworthy tests. Buses require a test every six months.
“Traffic authorities have been instructed to show no mercy to anyone caught driving an unroadworthy vehicle. The officers will arrest drivers and impound vehicles.”
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