Broken traffic lights at the N2 intersection in Salt Rock are again under scrutiny after a cyclist was injured in a collision last Thursday morning.

The traffic lights at the intersection have not worked since the beginning of April, raising ongoing safety concerns.

Mbulelo Manana (40) was knocked off his bike in a collision with a vehicle, injuring his arm. He will be off work for several weeks.

Manana’s employer, Jonathan Hein, director of Bloemendaal Flower Farm in Salt Rock, recounted his employee’s experience. Hein said Manana was travelling to work from Umhlali before sunrise. As he crossed the intersection, he collided with a vehicle turning right onto the N2, heading north.

The driver of the vehicle, who was travelling to Empangeni, told Hein it was still dark and he could not see the cyclist because there were no lights on the bicycle or streetlights at the intersection.

“I do not understand why it is taking so long to fix,” said a frustrated Hein.

Hein said drivers are not consistently treating the intersection as a four-way stop.

“It is like the Wild West. Each person does their own thing. Taxis and cars fly through without stopping – although this happens even when the robots are working. Luckily, he escaped with no serious injuries.”

Responsibility for the traffic lights falls outside KwaDukuza municipality (KDM) jurisdiction. National roads, including both sides of the N2 bridge, are managed by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), while the Department of Transport (DoT) is responsible for the Salt Rock main road between Umhlali and Tiffany’s, the P445 through Ballito, the M4 and the R102 at Umhlali.

However, KDM has been covering the costs for repairs of traffic lights on these provincial roads annually, submitting invoices to the DoT for reimbursement while the growing bill remains unpaid.

The Courier previously reported (‘KDM foots province’s bill for traffic light repairs’, Courier, August 22) that this resulted in a stalemate while a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is being drawn up between KZN DoT and KDM. However, on August 19, KDM committed to doing technical repairs while waiting for the MOU to be finalised and said work was expected to begin within the next two weeks. That was four weeks ago.

Ward 22 councillor Privi Makhan said the delay was unacceptable and continued to put motorists at risk.

Makhan acknowledged that KwaDukuza’s community safety department has deployed traffic officers during peak hours to ease congestion but stressed that this was merely a temporary measure.

KZN MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said his department is doing what it can to strengthen road safety leading up to Transport Month in October.

“I have mandated the department to speed up the process in the interests of residents,” he said.

KDM spokesperson Sifiso Zulu said the KDM Electrical Engineering Services Business Unit would only do repairs once the MOU is in place because “there is an apparent risk of doing the repairs without any reimbursement, as has happened in the past.”

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