The Democratic Alliance (DA) will deliver a member statement, at the next sitting of the Limpopo Legislature, for response by the MEC for Transport and Community Safety (DTCS), Violet Mathye, on the department’s interventions to minimise the continuous fatal accidents on the stretch of the N1 road from the Capricorn tollgate to Wylliespoort.
The latest fatal bus crash on 8 May 2026 occurred at the corner of the Witvlag road turn-off, resulted in multiple deaths and 40 passengers were admitted to hospital and caused major traffic disruptions.
The accident prone stretch of road from the Capricorn tollgate to Wylliespoort is a death trap where most bus accidents occur and it is time for urgent intervention by the DTCS.
A functional weighbridge will assist greatly in road safety and it is concerning that despite the unacceptably high number of accidents on this stretch of road, the disabled Mampakuil weighbridge has been out of commission years; with no clear plans for vitalisation of the facility.
This Mampakuil weighbridge can be an important deterrent and a valuable instrument for the DTCS to close the gap in the fight against unroadworthy vehicles, overloading, invalid driver’s licenses and other offences that may cause fatal accidents.
The DA finds it disingenuous that after every fatal accident the ANC provincial political elite visit bereaved families, the injured and the accident scene, but lacks the political will to implement proactive and preventative measures to save lives.
Driver fatigue and negligence, overloading and speeding are not the only cause for accidents; treacherous road conditions contribute largely to our unacceptably high death toll.
The DA will further request MEC Mathye to negotiate with SANRAL on possible interventions and to provide feedback – the loss of lives at the is preventable and must be mitigated through swift government action.