Durban -The National Freedom Party (NFP) has expressed concern for the victims of an accident on the M41 Durban on Monday, where a truck slammed into at least 46 vehicles, resulting in at least 16 injuries.
Leader of the NFP in Parliament, Ahmed Munzoor Shaik-Emam said that the party’s thoughts and prayers were with all affected motorists.
“We as the NFP are concerned over the growing number of road accidents in the country, which have become all too common. We believe that the root causes of these accidents must be addressed, and decisive action taken to prevent them from occurring in the future.”
Shaik-Emam added that the contributing factors of the mutli-vehicle accident needed to be identified and decisive action taken to prevent similar crashes.
“We call on all relevant authorities to address this issue as a matter of urgency. The NFP also believes that stricter legislation and enforcement is necessary to reduce the number of accidents on our roads.
“We need to send a strong message to all road users that reckless and negligent driving will not be tolerated, and that those who flout the law will be held accountable for their actions.”
He said the NFP believed the road infrastructure needed to be improved urgently.
“Many of our roads are in poor condition and are not equipped to handle the volume of traffic they are subjected to. This puts motorists and pedestrians at risk and contributes to the high number of accidents we see on our roads.”
The NFP also called the authorities to be proactive in enforcing regulations related to heavy-duty vehicles.
“We call on law enforcement authorities to be proactive in enforcing regulations related to heavy-duty vehicles to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.”
“We call on the government to make road safety a priority and invest in the necessary upgrades to our roads. The safety of our citizens should always come first,” he said.