KwaZulu-Natal vows to intensify campaigns to curb road accidents, fight crime

KwaZulu-Natal has vowed to intensify its campaigns to fight crime and curb road carnages in the province. Over the past two years, the province has been recording the highest number of road fatalities.

The province has already lost 1 432 lives on roads this year alone, which is a lower number compared to last year which was 2 092.

As the festive season is around the corner, the province is already welcoming an influx of visitors from other areas and outside the province.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison Bheki Ntuli officially launched the Festive Season Integrated Law Enforcement Safety Plan.

Ntuli says measures are in place to bring stability to the province’s roads. He says women and men in blue are ready to make sure that drivers adhere to the rules of the road.

“Our borders are porous. Our RTI will be all over the show on the road and we will make sure they will be visible on the road. Stop-and-search and roadblock and random searches will be done on the roads. But we are doing this in collaboration with the justice department and we want them to assist us with the prosecution.”

KZN MEC meets police units to roll-out plan of festive season safety campaign:

Ntuli says all relevant stakeholders must get also a common solution in terms of controlling activities on the beaches.

“We are not necessarily saying we must close beaches, but we are triggering a debate that should we let people die like flies, or we should come up with the strategy to manage these people? Because people will come from different areas, but we also know that if hotels are full it will be a boost to our GDP in the province.”

Police will also be deployed to safeguard the borders of the country.

“In the malls, in the residential areas and other areas where stock theft has been prevalent and some other rural areas, during this time, we will be focusing mainly on liquor outlets, on the proliferation of firearms,” says KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Thembinkosi Jula.