Transport Minister Blade Nzimande along with officials from Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) have visited the family of two of the victims of the deadly Mountain View train crash in Pretoria West.
Dick Sekoma and his wife Sarah from Soshanguve were part of the three people who died after two trains collided last week.
They were travelling with their 18 and 3 year old daughters to the Tshwane University of Technology to try and find space for their eldest daughter.
Family spokesperson Tsakane Nkumane says the family is still coming to terms with the tragedy but they are still scared to use trains.
“We don’t have a choice; we have still have to use the train because it’s the cheapest. I can’t say we’ll use the taxis, they’re expensive. I’m still scared to be near a train. So it will still take time to still use a
Nzimande says 1 612 road fatalities were recorded during the festive season last year, which is an increase from 1 527 in 2017.
Announcing the road death toll in Pretoria, Nzimande says reckless and negligent driving as well as drinking and driving are one of the main contributors to the increasing number of deaths on the roads.
He says Northern Cape, Free State and Eastern Cape recorded the highest percentage increase in fatalities
“A comparison of this year’s statistics with the same period last year shows that Northern Cape, Free State and Eastern Cape recorded the highest percentage increase. This resulted in an 80% increase the NC, the FS increased by 28% and the EC recorded a 22% increase from 195 to 238 fatalities. Gauteng recorded a commendable 19% decrease while the NW recorded a 2% decrease.”
Meanwhile the Road Incident Management task team says it will embark on a campaign to strengthen its work at the scene of road crashes by implementing stricter rules. This comes after the identity of the crash victims were filmed and posted on social media before their next of kin were notified.
A horrific accident between a truck, minibus taxi and two vehicles claimed the lives of 12 people on the N3 near Villiers in the Free State on Sunday.
Five people with serious injuries were airlifted to hospital. The chairman of the Post Incident Assessment team Sipho Towa, explains, “We have notice with social media and everyone wanting to take pictures and video of what is happening. It is important to introduce screens to cover so that we protect casualties identity until their next of kin have been identified.”
