Cape’s Easter road death toll bungle
After initial reports of a 75% drop in Easter road deaths it emerged that 21 people, not six, had lost their lives.
|||Cape Town - After initially reporting a drastic drop in Easter road death statistics, it emerged in the Western Cape provincial legislature that 21 people - not six - had lost their lives over the festive weekend.
The department of transport and public works had initially reported a 75 percent drop in the death toll, saying only six people had died.
However, DA MPL Lennit Max attacked his fellow party member, MEC for transport and public works Donald Grant, in the provincial legislature, saying the death toll had been “miscalculated”.
“According to the information received as part of my oversight, the number of fatalities over the past Easter weekend was six on our provincial and national roads and 15 deaths in the metro, totalling 21 fatalities, two less than last year’s Easter weekend,” Max said.
The department of transport and public works had earlier issued a statement saying the initial forensic data obtained on road deaths showed only one pedestrian fatality, while subsequent analysis showed the number was far higher.
“An unconfirmed report received from the Western Cape department of health’s Forensic Pathology Services indicates that a substantial number of pedestrians were fatally injured in the metropolitan area over the past Easter weekend,” the statement read.
In his budget vote speech, Grant had thanked road users for heeding the call to improve road safety, lauding the Easter traffic safety campaign.
Max supported the budget vote for the department and was pleased with the reduction in road carnage on the province’s national roads. However, he said the 35 percent increase in road fatalities over the December 2015 to January 2016 festive season over the previous year was cause for concern.
Max also said the 15 road deaths in the metro were of great concern and needed urgent attention. This Easter weekend, two fewer people died on the province’s roads than in 2015.
“We welcome any decrease in road deaths, but a decrease of only two fatalities doesn’t give us reason to celebrate or to claim that the department is on top of the challenge,” Max said.
He highlighted the fact that provincial traffic was “seriously under-staffed and under-resourced” and there was an “urgent need” to fill the 213 vacant posts in traffic law enforcement.
Conceding that he understood the need to save money, Max said law enforcement personnel should be the exception to the rule; saving money could never be at the expense of a human life.
“The department cannot wait until a traffic officer is killed before the powers wake up and express condolences and make strong political statements.
“It will be too late… I call on the minister and the department to do everything possible to get the necessary financial assistance to address the situation.”
VACANT POSTS
ANC MPL Cameron Dugmore said past statistics dating back to December 2014 showed that the Western Cape was the worst performer in terms of road safety, with a 33 percent increase in fatalities year-on-year.
He said it was “shocking” that on the notorious “road of death” along the Laingsburg section of the N1, where most of the fatalities occur, there were 19 senior provincial traffic inspector posts vacant.
Grant welcomed Max’s criticism and said the issue of vacancies was being dealt before the standing committee.
“We agree that posts should be filled but the House must be aware that with the budget cutbacks as a result of the national negotiated salary increases there had to be adjustments on a provincial level,” he said.
Grant added that the provincial government had discussed the vacancies but had decided to prioritise spending on education and health.
Cape Argus