Transport ministry orders urgent safety intervention on deadly N1 curve near Makhado
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa have directed South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) to implement an engineering solution to a hazardous curve on the N1 north of Makhado, where repeated crashes involving buses and trucks have claimed multiple lives.
This follows a fatal bus crash in the early hours of Thursday morning on the northbound stretch between Makhado and Musina, in which five people died, and more than 30 passengers were involved.
The deceased included the male driver, one female passenger, and three male passengers.
Four passengers sustained serious injuries, ten were critically injured, and eighteen suffered minor injuries. All injured were taken to nearby medical facilities.
Spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety, Violet Mathye, confirmed that the serious accident occurred on the N1‑29 near Ingwe Lodge in the Vhembe District at approximately 2:50 am.
A Marcopolo bus lost control, veered off the roadway, and landed in a ditch.
Minister Creecy and Deputy Minister Hlengwa have also instructed the Road Traffic Management Corporation to provide an update on an earlier directive issued in October to intensify roadworthiness inspections of buses crossing the Beit Bridge Border Post.
Both SANRAL and the RTMC are expected to submit urgent reports on their interventions.
Authorities say the preliminary investigation indicates driver loss of control as a possible cause, but a full investigation is underway to determine the exact circumstances.
The ministers stressed that SANRAL must urgently find an engineering solution to the dangerous curve, where similar crashes have occurred.
ALSO READ
