Traffic volumes are expected to increase on the country’s roads from Monday as more workers prepare to return to work under the Level 4 lockdown. Once-off travel between provinces has been allowed from the 1-7 May for people to cross provincial borders to get to their places of work.
Large numbers of people are expected to travel into and out of the Western Cape from Sunday evening. Western Cape Transport Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela says they estimate that around 1.5 million people countrywide will be returning to work during this period.
“Tomorrow (Monday), we will start to see a number of these people going back to work. And of course, you will always have those people who are taking chances without permits and we want to urge South Africans to take this very, very seriously. Those people who are expected to go back to work, they must have the necessary permit because we are phasing in some economic activities now. There are industries that will be operating tomorrow, so we expect more and more people to be on the roads.”
The provincial department of transport says the evening curfew is hampering travel.
Madikizela has called on the national government to amend curfew regulations during this time while people are allowed travel until May 7th.
Meanwhile, Madikizela visited the Joe Gqabi Bus Terminus in Cape Town on Sunday.
Madikizela says he has been inundated with calls from taxi operators who have been transporting people, but are struggling to get to their various destinations due to curfew regulations. People are not allowed on the roads between 8pm and 5am.
He has, however, commended the steps taken by taxi operators to ensure passengers’ safety. He says they are sanitising passengers’ hands and ensuring that they are wearing masks before entering their vehicles.
“Initially, we had a huge challenge where people were not complying, but by and large now, I mean I can safely say the message is getting through. Many taxis are complying, you know, with the regulations. Many taxis are loading 70% of the passengers, people are wearing masks. There are very few people. Of course, in any situation, there’s people who take chances and decide to break the law and of course, we are going to clamp down very hard on those people.”
Madikizela says his department will appeal against the current curfew for travel on the country’s roads.
“I’ve received a number of calls from Friday because of this curfew period. People travel from here and then they get to Beaufort West or other parts of the Eastern Cape, they are stopped, and they need to sleep over there because of this curfew period. So, it’s something that we need to look at because we must make sure that those who are travelling, they are able to travel from point A to point B without any hindrances.”
In the video below, the SABC News looks at the situation on the Western Cape roads as people are given a once-off window period to travel to other provinces:
Below is an infographic on the Level 4 lockdown regulations:
