BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
SOUTH African police last week impounded several vehicles found not road roadworthy belonging to cross-border transporters, commonly known as omalayitsha, in a campaign aimed at reducing road carnage.
The omalayitsha are seen as a reliable form of transporting Christmas groceries and providing transport to Zimbabweans returning home for the festive season after toiling the year in the neighbouring country.
South Africa’s transport ministry on Wednesday impounded several cross-border transporters during the Operation Malaisha raid with Transport minister Fikile Mbalula saying they were targeting un-roadworthy vehicles.
Reports from South Africa said the operation, “which targeted bus, freight and logistics transportation, was conducted overnight at the weighbridge heading to Limpopo, Zimbabwe and Malawi”.
“Here we got a lot of un-roadworthy vehicles and some of them weigh more than what is expected.
“All those vehicles are being impounded,” Mbalula was quoted saying adding, “all un-roadworthy and unlicensed vehicles, as well as those without permits, were taken off the road.
“This operation is taking place at night because people think that police are not working 24/7.
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‘Buckle up, don’t drink and drive, and make sure that your vehicle is roadworthy.”
The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) in partnership with the South African Accident Fund on Wednesday also launched a joint awareness programme aimed at reducing carnage during this festive season.
This is the second joint road safety awareness campaign between TSCZ and SAF as the first was conducted during the 2016-2017 festive season.
In a series of tweets, Mbalula said: “Trailers going to Zimbabwe are heavily overloaded and not roadworthy.
“We are sorry to inconvenience people but we must keep them safe.
“Here we also weigh to ensure that all suspected transport is checked for safety.”
Last year, 49 road accidents were recorded along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge road, claiming three lives.
Since December 1, 2019 to date, there have been seven fatalities with causes of the accidents said to be speeding, fatigue among others.
