City cops eye road hogs over Easter
The message is: expect increased numbers of traffic vehicles on city roads and beware of random roadblocks in notorious spots - day and night
DRIVERS in the vicinity of the City of uMhlathuze over the Easter weekend should brace themselves for vigorous traffic enforcement operations.
The message is: expect increased numbers of traffic vehicles on city roads and beware of random roadblocks in notorious spots – day and night.
Multi-disciplinary operations are planned including City traffic, SAPS, Provincial Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and others.
City Mayor Mduduzi Mhlongo has vowed to work hard to reduce lawlessness on the roads.
‘We are slowly drilling into the mind of drivers that our city is not a playground for drunk drivers and speedsters, especially during long weekends and silly seasons.
‘This phenomenon is a killer and it leaves families destitute with no one to care for them, noting that it often claims the lives of breadwinners.
‘We constantly engage with the public transport sector on issues relating to road safety and we can safely say that we are on right track, except for some individual drivers that we need to deal with through all possible legal means once we catch them.
‘During this Easter period, we will unleash all our tactics to fight this scourge in the name of saving innocent lives,” Mhlongo said.
The City’s Fire and Rescue department, including Disaster Management, will also be on standby for any eventuality on our roads. Drivers are urged to exercise extra caution and obey traffic rules at all times.
Improved roads
Mhlongo said that the improving road infrastructure in the City of uMhlathuze is not a licence to speed.
‘Our efforts to improve the quality of our roads through resurfacing and refurbishing them through the urban roads project, and construction of new roads, does not give motorists permission to exceed the speed limit or disobey any other traffic regulations.
‘The budget we are tabling for the next financial year reflects even more investment in the road infrastructure.
‘An amount of R19.6-million will be invested in Phase 3 of Mzingazi roads, another R24.5-million to maintain and refurbish urban roads and R30-million is to be set aside for the design and construction of a central industrial area link road.
‘Some road improvements such as the expansion of R66 next to the Richards Bay cemetery are now completed, providing a breather to the traffic bottleneck that was experienced during peak hours.
‘Other roads, as well as revamping road markings, are now completed in the Empangeni CBD and further phases will include townships and suburb roads.
‘More work still needs to be done, including dealing with potholes in all our roads,’ said Mhlongo.
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