Johannesburg –

The death toll on South African roads has reached 1200, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Monday afternoon.

Spokesman Ashref Ismail said 1207 people were killed in 1006 accidents since the beginning of December.

“No major fatal crashes have been reported in the last 96 hours,” he said.

“No provincial or road user breakdown data are available at this stage. Analysis, comparisons and conclusions will be a made at the end of the campaign when the schools re-open.”

The North West province recorded over 60 deaths since the beginning of December, the public safety department said.

Spokesman Lesolang Simon Mmope said four people died on Sunday, bringing the provincial toll to 62.

“The death toll stands at over 60. Stations reported only four fatalities this morning.”

He said roadblocks would be conducted on major entry and exit routes in the province from Monday.

“The focus will be on speeding, reckless driving and drunken driving,” Mmope said.

In Johannesburg there had been no accidents in the past 48 hours, the city metro police said.

There was a high visibility of traffic officers, who were focusing on drunken driving and excessive speed, said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar. – Sapa

Transport authorities have slated drivers for continuing to drive while under the influence of liquor, saying 60 to 65 percent of all road fatalities, specially those over weekends, are as a result of alcohol abuse by motorists.

In a statement the Department of Transport and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) called for drastic interventions and a complete mind-shift on the part of road-users to curtail the carnage.

Crashes have claimed more than 1 000 lives since December 1 and left many others injured.

In the statement, Transport Minister Ben Martins, added: “Since the beginning of the festive season, just over 2 000 motorists have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. These are people who deliberately ignore the dangers associated with driving under the influence of alcohol and go on to endanger the lives of other road-users. Many other moving violations such as dangerous overtaking and excessive speeding at times have alcohol abuse as a common denominator”. Drinking and walking (jay walking) by pedestrians is another major challenge that requires urgent attention. At least 40 percent of road fatalities recorded annually in SA involve pedestrians. “(Law enforcement officers) can only succeed in their efforts if they get the necessary co-operation and support from the very same people whose lives they are trying to save: members of the public. We therefore call on road users, motorists, passengers and pedestrians alike to play their part in ensuring that we put a halt to any further loss of lives on our roads,” said Transport deputy Minister Sindi Chikunga. The RTMC, provincial and local traffic authorities will be out in full force to ensure law and order on our roads and pay special attention to people driving under the influence of alcohol, excessive speeding, dangerous overtaking and other violations.

Speed limits along hazardous locations/routes will be enforced through hand-held cameras, fixed cameras, average speed monitoring and through Moving Violation Recorders in marked and unmarked traffic vehicles.

“No person who takes alcohol in excess and still drives deserves to be on our roads. Such people should be taken away to a place wherein their barbaric deeds won’t endanger the lives of other law-abiding citizens,” said Martins.

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Durban – A 14-month-old boy was rescued on Sunday after spending hours tied to his mother’s corpse, a few metres from the bodies of his three brothers and two sisters.

The family, who lived in a neat house in Inanda, north of Durban, had all been stabbed to death.

The bodies of the children – aged three, five, seven, nine and 14 – had been stacked in the bathroom while their mother was found, with the baby, in the passage. The toddler was unhurt but dehydrated and hungry.

Police spokesman Vincent Mdunge said the 38-year-old woman owned a tuck shop with her husband. The killings were thought to have taken place on Saturday.

Police were still awaiting the results of post-mortems to confirm their suspicions. The woman’s husband was making a statement to police late on Sunday.

Mdunge said the baby was taken to a clinic for medical attention. He was then given to relatives..

The dead woman’s brother-in-law raised the alarm on Sunday morning. According to Mdunge, he had tried to contact her on Saturday but, when he could not raise her, went to the house on Sunday.

Neighbours, who asked not to be named out of fear, said the brother-in-law arrived, went inside and soon afterwards came running out, shouting: “Everyone in the house has been killed.”

“When I entered the house I saw the body of the woman in the passage. She was covered in blood and there was a child – who was alive but not crying – beside her,” said one neighbour. “In the the bathroom, we found the bodies of his brothers and sisters.”

The children were “always playing outside”, said the neighbour, and would often be seen walking to the shop or to school.

One neighbour said she saw their mother on Thursday but since then she had not noticed any activity in the house.

“The doors were shut and the curtains drawn,” she said. “I thought they had gone on holiday.”

Mdunge called the crime a “mystery”. He said nothing had been stolen and there was no sign of forced entry.

The house was cordoned off and forensic experts were at the scene.

“A case of six counts of murder with aggravating circumstances was opened at Inanda police station and a task team will be established to find the killer,” said Mdunge.

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Durban policeman Dean van Zyl, who was recently arrested in a sting operation when he allegedly tried to sell his police radio to a tow-truck driver, is back on duty.

Van Zyl, 26, who at the time was out on bail for the alleged theft of petrol and alleged armed robbery, was rearrested when he allegedly tried to sell his police radio in Pinetown for R2 000 this month.

A policeman, who would not be named, told the Sunday Tribune that Van Zyl was on active duty.

“He is at work in uniform. How can a police officer who has been charged with so many crimes be allowed to come back to work? What message are we sending to the public by allowing this? We can’t even police our own,” he said.

Another officer, who also requested anonymity, confirmed that Van Zyl was on duty after his third arrest in three weeks. “I was at the station when he was arrested for allegedly stealing petrol,” he said. “It is disgusting to see a policeman in the cells, we are meant to uphold the law.”

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane provided a scant explanation as to why Van Zyl had not been removed from duty.

“Suspension of a serving member of the SAPS entails strict adherence to procedure and relevant legislation by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner. This is a normal process and the members of the public are assured that the Provincial Commissioner will take an appropriate decision regarding suspension of the member,” he said.

“The member is entitled to the use of police equipment including the state-issue firearm during the performance of his official police duties,” Zwane added.

Repeated attempts to contact Van Zyl proved unsuccessful.

The DA’s police spokeswoman Dianne Kohler-Barnard said that it was unconscionable for police management to allow a member facing criminal charges to stay on active duty.

“The reality is that criminality isn’t taken seriously… Imagine a traumatised member of the public could be giving a statement in their home to a cop who has committed a crime but who the SAPS refuses to suspend. The SAPS is still treating the IPID (Independent Police Investigative Directorate) with the same contempt it treated the Independent Complaints Directorate, despite the fact that we strengthened the law considerably,” she added.

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