The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) says while they understand the need to curb road fatalities they were concerned about “severe” challenges traffic officers will face during the 46-day Festive Road Safety Campaign.

According to the union, traffic officers remain short-staffed, under-resourced, overburdened and history might repeat itself in terms of timely compensation.

The government's 46-day campaign started on December 1 with the aim to reduce the devastating toll of road accidents which claimed 1285 lives during the 2023 holiday period.

Acknowledging the staggering statistics, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced that the department would be implementing measures such as 24-hour traffic policing and intensified law enforcement, particularly in high-risk route zones.

“Simply implementing 24/7 traffic policing is not enough to deal with the issues on our roads. The government must also accelerate recruitment efforts to build capacity, and increase its focus on providing traffic police with essential tools of the trade, like working vehicles. As things stand, our traffic police are grossly under-capacitated, and the department must take care not to overburden them with excessive work hours.“Just as importantly, traffic officers must receive proper and timely compensation for their efforts. The government has dragged its heels in the past, and some of our members have waited years to receive their overtime payments. These types of delays are unacceptable and the poor working conditions threaten their effectiveness and well-being as they work to ensure safer roads. We will be watching closely to ensure that our members are treated with respect,” said Popcru president Thulani Ngwenya.

Pointing to the recent deployment of 156 newly trained traffic officers in the Eastern Cape, he noted that while this sets a positive example, the need across all provinces remains vast.

“However, the reality is that as long as traffic officers are located within provincial departments with other primary mandates, traffic policing will not receive the necessary prioritisation or resource allocation,” said Ngwenya.

Meanwhile the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) has urged its drivers and all road users to exercise extreme caution on the roads and adhere to road safety regulations.

The taxi council's president Motlhabane Tsebe said he was deeply saddened by the crash that claimed 15 lives on the N9 near Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape.

Initially 13 people were killed -all six occupants in a Mazda CX5 and seven in a minibus taxi during a head-on collision early Monday morning.Two more people who were in the taxi were confirmed by authorities to have died hours later.

Ten other people suffered injuries and were transported to a medical facility for assessment.The Mazda CX5 was travelling from Middelburg to Graaff Reinet.“We extend heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased.

This accident is a stark reminder of the importance of road safety and the need for all road users to exercise extreme caution. The minibus taxi belonging to CODETA taxi association, was traveling from Saldhana Bay to Gatyane (Willovale) in the Eastern Cape.

“SANTACO will continue to work tirelessly to promote road safety and to support the families of the deceased,” said Tsebe.

The Western Cape mobility department said preliminary statistics indicate 22 crashes between December 13 and 16 with 24 fatalities in the province, seven were pedestrians.

Eastern Cape Transport Department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said including the Graaff-Reinet incident, in the last week about 20 people have been killed in car crashes in the province.

A Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) team has been dispatched to investigate the Graaff-Reinet incident.

Cape Times