HAZYVIEW- Carnage on Mpumalanga’s roads resulted in 93 recorded fatalities in August alone.

The road between Hazyview and the Kruger National Park’s (KNP) Kruger Gate in particular has experienced an increased number of accidents lately.

On Wednesday a bakkie drove off the Northsand River Bridge onto the R536. This resulted in the road being blocked for an hour.

There were no fatalities in this accident.

On Monday an off-duty policeman, Const Believe Biya, was killed near the same bridge. It was believed that he was on his way to Mkhuhlu when he crashed into a tree and rolled his bakkie at about 05:30. He was declared dead on the scene.

In the early hours of Sunday morning another person was killed and three seriously injured in a head-on collision on the road near Calcutta. Mr Matthew Louw, area manager for Thompson Tours, said a driver in a Corsa went into the oncoming lane and collided with one of the company’s safari vehicles. Mr Edgar Mabuza, the driver of the safari vehicle, was on his way to pick up guests for a tour at Kruger Gate Hotel. He was treated in a hospital in Mkhuhlu for neck injuries and broken ribs. The safari vehicle is a write-off.

Earlier Calcutta station commander erroneously confirmed that sous chef Mr Percy Mnisi from KaBokweni was killed in the collision. Mnisi was in fact killed in a hit-and-run incident on the Plaston Road (D812) which happened at more or less the same time.

Const Gugu Phiri from SAPS White River confirmed that the accident occurred at 04:00 on Sunday. She said the driver of the car tried to get away unseen, but the vehicle got stuck and he was arrested. The suspect appeared on a charge of culpable homicide in the White River Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

A tour operator who wanted to remain anonymous and who regularly takes tourists into the KNP said the R536 was “extremely dangerous”.

“Accidents are occurring on a daily basis, but more due to driver error than anything else. People get their licences too easily by paying R2 500.

“I see these drivers on a daily basis getting trained by driving schools. I would caution people to be on the lookout for other road users. Be on the alert for strange behaviour and utilisation of the road. Practise extreme advanced driving!”

Louw expressed concern that speeding threatened motorists and residents of the area.

He said because of the drought, more and more cattle were coming closer to the road where there is still green grass.

His office is regularly contacted by overseas visitors who use rental cars and run into trouble on the road to Kruger Gate.

Kurt Safari’s owner, Mr Kurt Schultz, said one of his vehicles had been involved in an accident when cattle were chased in front of it near Phabeni Gate.

“These accidents are not caused by safari vehicles, but by speeding and dangerous drivers on these roads close to the KNP,” said Schulz.

Spokesman for the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Mr Joseph Mabuza confirmed that more than 300 drivers were arrested in August for traffic violations such as driving without licences and speeding.

More than 700 vehicles were discontinued and more than 800 impounded.

In August alone at least 541 crashes that left 93 people dead of whom 25 were pedestrians. A total of 386 people sustained serious injuries while 599 were slightly injured. According to national statistics, at least 40 per cent of crashes that occur in the country involve pedestrians.

MEC for safety and security Mr Pat Ngomane said in a statement on the road deaths, “This is a clear indication that we need to put more effort into improving road safety in the province.”