JOHANNESBURG - Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, said on Thursday law enforcement agencies had developed an integrated law-enforcement plan to reduce road traffic fatalities and crime in general during the Easter long weekend.
Easter weekend is usually characterized by high traffic volumes to various pilgrimage, holiday destinations and Nkosi-Malobane said she would use the platform to interact with drivers and commuters on crime and road safety issues.
Nkosi-Malobane will lead a series of heightened law enforcement activities across the province, especially at identified freeways and hot spots.
She said the province had provided an additional 1,266 police personnel to strengthen capacity and 859 high performance vehicles to improve police response and visibility. The vehicles have been fitted with the latest technology including trackers and registration number plate recognition.
"We will further complement enforcement initiatives this Easter season by the deploying community patrollers at identified public transport hubs to provide help and support to the general travelling public," Nkosi-Malobane said.
"We have in recent times experienced serious forms of dangerous driving such as reckless and negligent driving, disregard to traffic signals and passengers overloading due to the rush to make profit especially during the Easter season."
Last Easter, Gauteng recorded a 57% increase in road fatalities, with 38 people losing their lives on the roads and pedestrians making up a high number of these fatalities.