The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) has raised concerns about poor working conditions and severe under staffing that traffic officers are facing.
The union has called for immediate government support, in order for officers to cope with the Transport Department’s 46-day Festive Road Safety Campaign which is under way.
POPCRU has warned of the challenging 24-hour traffic service, saying that a high number of incidents are possible, with the force that’s already stretched thin.
POPCRU president Thulani Ngwenya explains, “It is a very difficult situation that we are facing as an organisation, in support of this call by the minister- who don’t have a clue as to what is happening in the traffic department nationally.
You have traffic officers which they’re not more than 15 000, in the whole country, who must guard the national roads, and the provincial roads which are in the country, while the staff is not enough. For her call, to call for a 24- hour service operation, is highly impossible.
PODCAST | Interview with POPCRU on traffic officers being over-stretched:
Meanwhile the Border Management Authority (BMA) says Friday was the busiest day of the festive season at South Africa’s borders.
Tens of thousands of people left and entered the country.
PODCAST | Holiday traffic peaks at border posts:
The surge in numbers corresponds with the festive season, a time of increased travel.
The BMA has reassured travellers that its systems at the Lebombo border post are running efficiently.
It says that it will oversee operations at the border until Christmas Day to ensure the smooth processing of people and vehicles following disruptions due to protests in Mozambique.
BMA Commissioner Dr Mike Masiapato, “We knew that yesterday was going to be one of the busiest days across all of the various ports. I have been interacting with the various teams that we have deployed in our top ports around the country – and I can confirm that everything is going very well.
So, in terms of where I am, which is Lebombo port of entry, we had the highest peak in the morning, with a lot of Mozambicans coming into the port, going back home – primarily those that are working either in the mines, or in some companies in the country – coming back through.” says Masiapato.
Festive Season | Maseru Bridge near standstill as travellers head to Lesotho:
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