As motorists prepare to hit the road ahead of the Easter weekend, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has urged motorists not to drink and drive.
“We are fighting head-on and dealing with the issues of drinking and driving. If a person wants to drink, that person must stay at home and drink at home. We don’t want anything that will cause a problem for us,” Zikalala said.
The Premier was speaking at the launch of the Easter Road Safety Campaign at the N3 Mariannhill Toll Plaza on Wednesday.
The campaign aims to promote responsible road use over the Easter long-weekend and beyond.
Zikalala, who was accompanied by MEC of Transport Community Safety and Liaison, Peggy Nkonyeni, said the provincial government wants to use the campaign to reduce the rate of road fatalities.
“It is known that during any holiday, but especially a long weekend like the Easter holiday, we have many people coming into KwaZulu-Natal. KZN is still a destination in terms of domestic tourists, and that’s why we want to enforce the rules and laws in our roads.
“We want to fight seriously and strictly against speeding because that’s caused accidents… we want to encourage drivers to take a rest or a break of 15 minutes after every 2 hours. We also want to encourage people not to drive and use cell phones,” the Premier said.
During the launch, a total of 1279 vehicles were stopped in a multi-disciplinary roadblock at the Mariannhill Toll Plaza, with 30 various charges and one suspension.
Zikalala said this is expected to increase as the Easter weekend kicks on as the province anticipates an influx of people and increased traffic volumes, with travels to work, leisure and pilgrims.
He said the road block was intended to check the road safety worthiness of vehicles, compliance of COVID-19 protocols and driver capability.
“What we want is to ensure that people follow all protocols of COVID-19 and ensure that road users follow protocols and obey the rules and the law,” said Zikalala.
Nkonyeni said that the department will conduct other strategic operations over the Easter weekend.
“We want to ensure that our road users are driving on our roads responsibly so, they avoid consumption of alcohol before they arrive at their destinations, checking their speed limits and also to ensure that drivers have a passenger list for long distance travelling,” Nkonyeni said.
The Premier wished the holiday makers coming to the province a joyful Easter holiday.
“We wish the religious community a revival and rejuvenating Easter weekend.”
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