Five lives have already been lost and people were seriously injured as the annual Lowveld festive season accident period seems to have started even earlier this year.

In one of the accidents on November 11, state advocate Themba Shongwe (46) was killed in a crash on the R40 near Church Unlimited. The Citi Golf he was driving collided head-on with a Toyota Fortuner, and a VW Polo crashed into the rear. Eight people were injured, including a six-year-old child.

*One of the five people who sadly passed away in one of these accidents was Hectorspruit resident Armand de Jager. He was a passenger in an accident near the Karino interchange on November 14. De Jager was one of three people in the bakkie involved in the accident when they were travelling towards Malalane. While the exact circumstances leading up to the accident are not known, it is believed that the bakkie was sent into a roll, coming to a stop on an embankment after which it caught fire. De Jager and a fellow passenger were then transported to hospital, but sadly De Jager passed in hospital.

In another accident that could have been disastrous, a fuel tanker crashed into a Fidelity Security vehicle on the N4 outside Mbombela on November 14. Dashcam footage shows the Fidelity vehicle failing to stop at the T-junction, causing the truck to collide with it. The accident resulted in the closure of the road for more than
eight hours.

Two more died and three sustained injuries on the N4 between Valencia and the Karino interchange on November 15. The accident involved four sedans and one light delivery vehicle. On November 17, a taxi operator, Brown Hlatshwayo, died instantly when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a tavern wall.

The spokesperson for the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison, Moeti Mmusi, said reckless drivers will not be tolerated; instead, they will be harshly dealt with. He also said the DCSSL would be focusing on accident hotspots, such as the N4, R38 and R40, which are known for regular vehicle accident fatalities and injuries.

Mmusi said visibility of road law enforcement officers would be increased in an effort to curb accidents. He promised those who break the rules of the road, especially while drinking and driving, will face the full might of the law.

“The department is worried about all these road accidents, even before the festive season officially starts. We need to do something soon and we need motorists to come on board and do the right thing by obeying the law and not speeding. Our traffic officers cannot be out on all the roads; motorists need to drive with caution all the time,”
he said.

The Provincial Festive Road Safety Campaign will soon be launched.

*This article was amended after it was published. The following incorrect information was initially published in the November 21 print edition of Lowvelder: ‘Another road accident saw Armand de Jager killed when his car collided with another vehicle on November 14, leaving one occupant critically injured and needing a serious leg operation.’ It has been corrected with the information stated above after Lowvelder was contacted by Armand de Jager’s family. Lowvelder apologises for any confusion caused, and would like to offer sincere condolences to the family of Armand de Jager.