Anglo American Mine donates speed cameras and breathalysers with blow pipes in Lydenburg

The Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison (DCSSL) received a donation of six calibrated speed cameras and, 15 breathalysers with 750 blow pipes from the Anglo American Mine.

The handing-over ceremony took place at the Mashishing community hall on October 18.

“Our trucks use the road to and from our mines on a regular basis. Some of the trucks are involved in the crashes that are recorded. Therefore, we cannot sit and watch without doing anything. We hope that the equipment will help improve road safety and increase traffic officers’ visibility on the roads,” said Hennie Wood, a safety, health, environment and quality manager at the Booysendal Platinum Mine.

According to Wood, since the beginning of the year, they have had 16 crashes involving their trucks in Mashishing and the mine precinct. “We believe these cameras we are donating today will be for a good cause, to curb speeding. We don’t like fines either, but it would be great if the fines were increased so that the lawbreakers could start practicing good behaviour,” he said.

The DCSSL transport regulation general manager, Sibandiso Nkuna, said the department appreciated the donation. “Private partnerships are important for the government to improve service delivery. We need more commitment from the private sector to assist the department in fighting the scourge of road crashes. Most crashes are head-on collisions, sideswipes and loss of control. These items today will go a long way towards curbing this bad behaviour from drivers,” he said.

Nkuna said the mine will form a forum in which information will be shared on how to improve road safety in the area. The mine also committed to training 10 traffic officers to operate the speed cameras.