AA blames failure in visible policing for dangerous practice.
SNARL-UP. Traffic builds up at the Grasmere Toll Plaza, south of Joburg, as the Easter holidays come to an end yesterday. Picture: The Citizen/Nigel Sibanda
Thousands of “lawless” motorists returning to Gauteng from Limpopo yesterday turned the N1 South highway into one of the most dangerous roads in the country as they drove deliberately into oncoming traffic in their rush to beat the toll plaza snarl-ups.
And the reason for this is the failure of visible policing and enforcement of the law, says Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) CEO Bobby Ramagwede.
Government does nothing about dangerous practice
While the state appears to be aware of this dangerous practice during the Easer holiday season, the unintended consequences of them drawing resources away to stand at roadblocks kissing babies is that there is no law enforcement present, Ramagwede said.
“South Africans are simple creatures to manage, the more presence they see the more they abide by the laws. So, you don’t even have to have the police doing their job, just be present.
“It’s something we’ve called for, with the increase of criminal activity on the N2,” he added.
“Because the traffic is so slow, opportunistic criminals are now breaking into vehicles, because people have nowhere to go.
“Similarly, if you had a scattering of police officers every 200m to 300m you would not have this activity.”
Law enforcement presence needed on highway
Ramagwede added that when they call for law enforcement, they are not asking for penalties and tickets to be issued. “We just want presence.”
Ramagwede said he counted 10 Johannesburg Metro Police Department vehicles at one spot over the weekend.
“You only need two vehicles there, what are the rest of the vehicles doing there?” he asked. Videos of the dangerous N1 South chaos went viral across social media.
Lawlessness on highway
In a video circulating on X, vehicles are seen creating a third lane by merging into oncoming traffic, leaving only one lane available for northbound traffic.
By late yesterday afternoon, Traffic SA was reporting wait times of between one and two hours at the main toll plazas on the way to Gauteng, because of a crash and the huge volumes of traffic.
A number of social media users said the vehicle numbers were even higher than they are over a typical Christmas or New Year period, because, they said, there were more days in which people could travel at the end of the year.
Bakwena N1 route
Bakwena PR manager Charmaine van Wyk said although the incident didn’t take place on the Bakwena route, it had been reported.
“The Bakwena N1 route begins on the N1 at Proefplaas interchange in Pretoria, and runs northwards to Bela Bela off-ramp (90km).
“Then the N1 north section towards Polokwane falls under the management of the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). The section you refer to falls under Sanral.
“However, the matter was escalated earlier today through Rims (Road Incident Management System) groups to the relevant authorities,” she said.
Deployment of TMPD officers
Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) spokesperson senior superintendent Isaac Mahamba said it had strategically deployed members across all major routes and entry points to the city from Sunday.
“This intensified deployment aims to monitor traffic flow and prevent road incidents as the Easter long weekend draws to a close. With the holiday period concluding, a significant influx of motorists are expected,” he said.
TMPD had deployed officers in large numbers to key points in Tshwane over the holiday weekend, Mahamba added.
NOW READ: Limpopo blames human error for road deaths amid Easter rush
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