Speed camera set alight next to Mpumalanga road
The Mpumalanga government has condemned the burning of a
fixed speed camera on the R40 Road, between Mbombela and White river near
Rockysdrift.
Spokesperson for the provincial Department of Community Safety and Liaison, Joseph Mabuza, says the speed camera was used to specifically catch speeding motorists, which contribute to the most crashes taking place on the R40 road.
Mabuza says the camera only started operating from the 1st of October and has caught more than a thousand speeding motorists a day.
“With the burnt camera, the department has brought to book 17541 speeding motorists.”
According to Mabuza, officials were dispatched to check on the camera this morning.
“We realized in the early hours of this morning that it was vandalized, because yesterday it was operating.”
However, Mabuza adds that who-ever was responsible for destroying this camera, did not succeed in preventing any further speed fines being issued.
Mabuza adds this weekend alone, four people died on R40 Road between Mbombela and Barberton.
Mpumalanga Community Safety and Security MEC, Pat Ngomane has called on law enforcement officers to continue bringing speedsters to book.
“It was highly regrettable that people destroy infrastructure that could save other people’s lives. Nobody has a right to destroy our cameras, instead people should comply with traffic regulations and assist government to bring down crashes,” Ngomane said.
He also implored on members of the public who may know what happened to come forward and assist the police with any information that may lead to the arrest and subsequent conviction of the suspect(s).