Intersection a danger for community
Community fears death will occur at an intersection were several accidents have taken place.
Death, danger and destruction have become synonymous with an intersection in Pretoria West, with locals calling for immediate action.
They said a string of accidents had been recorded at the crossing of Christoffel and President Burger streets.
After a weekend with another crash at the intersection, Monday morning saw yet again an accident taking place there.
Residents living in the area claimed drivers were ignoring the stop signs in President Burger Street, causing crash after crash.
“There are no stop signs in Christoffel Street but there are in President Burger Street. Motorists coming from President Burger Street ignore the stop signs and merely drive on without looking if there are any oncoming vehicles,” said residents Mlungisi Nxumalo.
He lives in the street below the intersection and said accidents happened weekly.
Another resident, Cosette Heyns said her heart beat in her throat every time she had to cross the intersection.
“The intersection has always been a problem in the past, but now it has become worse. I have a 20-month-old baby and have to cross there daily when I take and fetch my daughter from daycare,” said Heyns.
She said most residents knew the chances were 99% of someone skipping the stop sign.
Heyns told Rekord that the shop at the corner of the intersection had been driven into a couple of times.
Shop owner Stony Mphosa said: “Three cars have driven into my shop. One actually entered the inside. I had to spend about R12 000 to repair damages.”
Mphosa said after an accident at the weekend, a bus and a car collided at the intersection on Monday morning.
“We are getting used to the accidents and it is bad. For years I have been trying to get the Tshwane metro to erect circles at the intersection,” he said.
He said after the petitions he drew up the metro erected circles at the streets below and above the intersection but this was not helping.
“The metro must erect circles at this intersection before more people lose their lives. A child already died at the intersection during an accident and over the weekend another child almost died,” said Mphosa.
Tshwane metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba was not aware of the problem.
“A survey to establish if a circle is warranted must be first undertaken and we would be sending a team to do that. After conducting the survey we would send the report to the department of transport for their handling,” he said.
Mahamba said metro police members would be deployed at the intersection from time to time in a bid to promote adherence to traffic laws.
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