Easter travel: Nearly a million fines issued, more than 1 000 arrests

More than 1 000 road users have been arrested and 900 vehicles were impounded in law enforcement operations conducted in all nine provinces since the start of the Easter holidays.

The arrests related to various offences, such as drunken driving, producing false driving documentation, driving recklessly, operating on the roads without driving permits and the overloading of both goods and passengers.

Vehicles were impounded mainly in KZN and Mpumalanga for violation of public transport operating permits.

A total of 75 961 vehicles were stopped and checked and 916 927 drivers were issued with traffic fines for various infringements.

One of the major concerns during this period was unroadworthy vehicles, and 274 vehicles with defects were discontinued.

“The Easter weekend is associated with increased traffic volumes as pilgrimages and holidaymakers take advantage of the public holidays to visit family or go on vacation. However, this surge in traffic poses significant road safety challenges, with authorities often warning motorists to exercise caution due to the high volumes of vehicles on the roads.

“Increased traffic volumes were experienced on Thursday and Friday from approximately 10:00 with [the] N1 North and N3 South recording an average of 2 000 vehicles passing through various toll gates per hour. The N4 East recorded 1 900, while N1 South recorded an average of 1 000 vehicles,” the Road Traffic Management Corporation said.

Meanwhile, South Africa and Botswana are finalising details to identify and repatriate the 46 victims and human remains of Botswana bus crash fatalities, which happened over the Easter long weekend in Limpopo.

“We will be guided by the people of Botswana, especially the families and the government to say how they prefer this to be done. Post-mortems will be conducted tomorrow. Pathologists will issue a notice then [the Department of] Home Affairs will issue death certificates. Then a funeral parlour will issue a cover letter, requesting the repatriation permit,” Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba said on Monday in an interview with the SABC. – SAnews.gov.za