JOHANNESBURG, April 23 — More than 21,000 traffic fines were issued across SouthAfrica during the Easter weekend, a government official said Monday, highlighting intensified law enforcement efforts to ensure road safety. SouthAfrican Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy made the remarks in Kranskop, Limpopo Province, during a media briefing on road safety statistics, enforcement operations, and progress in ensuring safer transportation on the country’s roads. “A total of 21,607 drivers were issued with traffic fines while 512 were arrested for offenses including drunk driving, excessive speeding, violating operating permits, and outstanding warrants of arrest. Six pedestrians were also arrested for jaywalking and endangering other road users,” said Creecy. Since March 20, law enforcement officials stopped more than 782,000 vehicles and issued 116,000 traffic fines. During the same period, over 3,500 drivers were arrested for various violations, and 89 pedestrians were detained for walking on highways, according to the minister. Despite high traffic volumes, the N1 highway, a critical corridor, recorded no fatal crashes on Thursday and Friday of the Easter weekend, despite logging up to 2,047 vehicles per hour. Creecy attributed this rare outcome to the effective deployment of law enforcement personnel and improved driver behavior. Creecy added that since March 20, a total of 2,225 unroadworthy vehicles were taken off the road for various offenses, while 2,448 others were impounded for permit-related violations.
Xinhua proud partner of the African Youth Newspaper
