Traffic officials from Mnquma Municipality at Butterworth had a relatively uneventful long weekend arresting 180 motorists for outstanding fines in the town.
Municipality spokesperson, Loyiso Mpalatshane, said despite the huge traffic volumes passing through Butterworth between Friday and Monday, there were no serious accidents reported in the municipality’s jurisdiction.
“As you know, Butterworth is a conduit between major economic hubs like East London and the province of KwaZulu-Natal. There were large volumes of traffic passing through our town but fortunately the weather Gods were on our side and the conditions favourable for driving. We managed to ensure that traffic flowed smoothly without any major delay,” he said.
"Traffic authorities have commended motorists for good behaviour after just two drunken drivers were arrested over the weekend. The two motorists were promptly arrested and were due to appear in the Butterworth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, April 18," he added.
"A further four motorists, including two bus drivers, were fined for transporting passengers without valid permits on Easter Monday. One of the buses was destined for the Western Cape," added Mpalantshane.
He said the operations would continue well after the Easter weekend and traffic officers would now pay more attention to verifying the road worthiness of vehicles transporting school children.
The Municipality traffic officers were also armed with portable scanning devices to detect motorists with outstanding fines and other road traffic violations.
“Even if a car is parked traffic officers can just pick up defaulters by pointing at the car’s licence disc. They will then issue a notice inviting the motorist to visit their offices,” said Mpalantshane.
Roadblocks were also held in Centane and Ngqamakhwe. Mnquma traffic officers were working together with provincial traffic officers and the SAPS as part of a concerted effort to protect lives on the road.
He went on to say that meetings were being held with stakeholders, to address the issue of stray animals in “hotspot” areas such as the N2 and the R409 between Ndabakazi and Tsomo.
