MBOMBELA – He called for more police visibility, especially on all major roads.

“We have just entered the festive month, one of the busiest months on our calendar, and this should be a joyful period, but we are spending it mourning our loved ones due to the many crashes on our roads. This must come to an end. And the only way we could win the fight against road carnages is by introducing stricter penalties against road offenders,” said Shongwe.

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“Secondly, we need to increase the numbers of our officials, especially on busy roads. Where there’s less visibility, motorists do as they please.

“This accident is one of many we have experienced in recent weeks, and we can no longer turn a blind eye and pretend not to see. We must all take stock and start behaving decently when driving,” he said.

Shongwe said negligent driving would not be tolerated during this festive season. “We are definitely going to relook our strategies to combat the scourge of lawlessness on our roads. We are going to deploy more police and traffic officials on all major roads who will be given full mandate to arrest offenders and discontinue all unroadworthy vehicles off our roads,” he said.

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He also appealed to motorists to use the roads with great caution to curb deaths.

“We need to change our attitudes and start using the road cautiously in order to avoid unnecessary loss of lives due to crashes.” He said government and his department were disturbed by the recent accident.

“It is a sad day for our province, the community of Pienaar and the family. Our prayers and thoughts are with all the families who lost their loved ones during the crash,” he said.