Minister Madikizela urges residents to drive responsibly over the long weekend

Media release by Bonginkosi Madikizela by Western Cape Minister of Transport and Public Works

As more residents get out to explore the Western Cape and travel to other provinces, we are expecting a busy long weekend.

All Provincial Traffic Service Centres have already activated their long weekend plans and are preparing to deal with exodus operations out of the Metro with specific focus on the N1, N2 and N7 routes as well as the return traffic on Sunday.

Provincial Traffic will execute K78 roadblocks and various other traffic law enforcement interventions throughout the weekend. There will be one Inter-Provincial K78 operation between the Western Cape and the Northern Cape on the N1 at Three Sisters.

Mobile vehicle testing units have been deployed within the Metro and on the N1 region to deal with unroadworthy vehicles at strategic locations for the entire week.

Our operational focus areas include:

• Public Transport
• Passenger Overload
• Vehicle fitness 
• Alcohol enforcement
• Moving violations
• Seatbelts
• Driver fatigue
• Speed

We know that many residents are excited to travel to various destinations and will be using this long weekend to explore. This is good for our economy and for saving jobs. As we move forward, however, we must remember to stay safe.

Please plan your trips properly, specifically for long distance driving. Please also plan to leave early so that you are not pressured to arrive at your destination. When motorists are pressured for time they end up taking risks which put their lives and those of other road users in danger.

We must also all remember to follow the golden rules, by always wearing a clean cloth mask when out in public, to regularly wash our hands with soap and water, and use hand sanitizer wherever possible.

I want to remind the public that Western Cape Provincial Traffic will be out in full force on our roads making sure that drivers are behaving.