KZN’s Easter road safety plans face disruption as a dispute between senior Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers and the Department of Transport’s executive management threatens to leave the province with fewer law enforcement personnel on its roads during one of the most dangerous travel periods of the year.

According to The Witness, at least 64 officers — including 11 control provincial inspectors and 53 chief provincial inspectors — have been informed they will not be working overtime on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

These officers were among those expected to be deployed as part of the department’s intensified Easter Holiday Road Safety Campaign, announced last week by Transport MEC Siboniso Duma.

Well-placed sources within the department, speaking to The Witness on condition of anonymity, said the dispute stems from concerns over working extended hours alone, particularly during the 10pm to midnight shift.

They said officers had asked management to implement a safety policy requiring officers to work in pairs during late shifts, citing fears of being placed in vulnerable situations when pulling over vehicles or responding to incidents.

The response from the executive management of the Department of Transport was that if officers felt unsafe, they would not be required to work during the public holidays until a formal agreement was reached.

“The importance of working in pairs cannot be overstated,” said one source. “An officer might stop a stolen vehicle for speeding, but the driver may think they’re being pulled over for car theft. If they’re armed, they could open fire — and then who is there to help the officer?”

Another source added that the issue was not about avoiding duty but ensuring safe operations.

“The officers are ready to work. We want to reduce road deaths. But officers cannot be put at risk while doing so.”

There is also concern over a contradiction between operational decisions and public messaging.

“How can you contradict what the MEC has said?” asked one source.

“The MEC and the Minister [Barbara Creecy] said they want all boots on the ground, but supervisors have not been given the green light to work overtime.”

Duma previously said that by tomorrow afternoon, traffic through the province’s toll roads was expected to exceed 1 500 vehicles per hour — a spike consistent with previous Easter weekends.

Such volumes necessitate experienced teams on duty to prevent accidents.

The sources pointed to alarming statistics from the recent festive season, when KZN recorded the country’s highest number of fatalities — 304 deaths from 247 fatal crashes — as reported by Creecy earlier this year.

Adding to concerns is that 149 of 198 trainee provincial inspectors are not yet qualified to pull over vehicles or make arrests.

“How can you put junior officers on the road without experienced oversight?” asked one officer.

“Supervisors must work overtime to ensure proper operations. It doesn’t make sense to go without management during this critical period.”

They warned that unless the impasse is resolved urgently, the absence of key personnel could compromise road user safety over the long weekend.

KZN Department of Transport spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya confirmed the MEC and senior management were committed to resolving the impasse to ensure maximum visibility over Easter.

Sibiya said the matter has the MEC’s full attention and that he had been in a meeting about the issue on Monday evening.

“He remains committed to sustaining the good work of a highly efficient RTI. He salutes all categories of staff in RTI for their commitment to motorist safety,” said Sibiya.

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