By Kopano Dibakwane
Trans African Concessions (TRAC) has released a breakdown of activities experienced along the Maputo Corridor over the four-day Easter weekend holidays. According to TRAC communications manager, Solange Soares, traffic was exceptionally high on both the South African and Mozambican sides of the route, with the Middleburg and Nkomazi plaza being the busiest throughout the period.
38 accidents, 2 fatalities and 14 serious injuries were recorded between Thursday 6 April and Monday 10 April. 31 of the accidents occured in South Africa and 7 in Mozambique.
GAUTENG
Accidents: 2
Fatalities: 0
Serious: 0
Highveld
Accidents: 17
Fatalities: 2
Serious: 10
Lowveld
Accidents: 12
Fatalities: 0
Serious: 3
Mozambique
Accidents: 7
Fatalities: 0
Serious: 1
According to Soares, traffic peaked on Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and Monday afternoon after 11: am. The TRAC helpdesk and TRACAssist partnered with the bulk of provincial and private emergency services, law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders along the TRAC N4 route, to buffer risks associated with increased traffic volumes.
This formed part of the TRAC N4 Easter 2023 Road Safety and Swift Response campaign, which aimed to reduce response times to roadside emergencies and incident.
“ TRAC thanks all its stakeholders(state and private) that participated in this campaign. Your cooperation went a long way in regulating traffic and keeping the road safe for all road users,” she said.
TRAC also focused on boosting its road safety messaging this Easter, done via road safety activation at Alzu petroport in Belfast, where TRAC representatives reportedly engaged with more than 600 road users and encouraged them to obey regulations, also to be responsible and courteous on the road.
“ Despite TRAC efforts to avoid delays along the route, traffic backlogs were unfortunately experienced on certain sections of the road due to a combination of high traffic volumes, road improvement sites and accidents. TRAC thanks road users for their patience during these delays and reminds them that planning one’s trip, especially during peak traffic times is imperative, to avoid such frustrations,” said Soares.
