A string of road crashes across Verulam and surrounding areas has marked a troubling start to Transport Month, with several people injured and one driver killed in separate incidents during the first week of October.
In the first incident, a taxi driver sustained serious injuries and more than eight passengers were reportedly injured when the taxi they were travelling in was involved in a collision while fleeing gunfire in Amawoti.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) received a report of a shooting and motor vehicle accident. Reaction officers were dispatched and arrived at the scene.
Rusa spokesperson Prem Balram said: “A passenger informed reaction officers that the taxi was fully loaded and approaching her drop-off point when she noticed three males, believed to be teenagers, on the opposite side of the road. Two stood together while the third approached the taxi and allegedly fired approximately five shots towards the vehicle. According to the passenger, the driver accelerated in an attempt to escape the gunfire. The taxi was subsequently involved in a collision with the rear of a municipal truck.”
Balram added that the driver was trapped in the wreckage. Members of the public used a grinder to cut the driver’s door and free him. He sustained serious injuries and received medical attention from ambulance personnel. Several passengers also received medical attention. One spent cartridge casing was located inside the white Toyota Quantum.
As the week went on, the reports continued to pile up. A truck lost its load when the trailer, laden with 600 boxes, overturned on the R102 near King Shaka International Airport. On Wednesday, 30 September, five people, including two minors, were injured in a head-on collision on Tottenham Road in Parkgate. Another head-on collision on Gopalall Hurbans Road in Tongaat on Sunday, 4 October, left both drivers injured.
An e-hailing driver fled the scene after a white Toyota collided with a driveway pillar on Rosemary Drive in Brindhaven on Friday, 2 October. On Saturday, 3 October, the driver of a white Toyota Quantum minibus taxi was killed in a rear-end collision with a DSW refuse truck on the M41 in uMhlanga.
With road safety being a serious concern, the eThekwini Municipality plans to roll out a number of road safety campaigns and public transport activations throughout the month.
The activities form part of the national Transport Month campaign and, for KwaZulu-Natal, will include community road safety campaigns scheduled to take place in Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu on Wednesday, 7 October.
The municipality said: “These activations aim to encourage safer pedestrian behaviour, while creating awareness about the shared responsibility of all road users in reducing accidents and improving mobility,”
Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy said: “The year 2026 also commemorates 30 years since the enactment of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. An effective and efficient transport, mobility and logistics system lies at the heart of ensuring all citizens can access their social and economic rights. Accordingly, this month, we must shine a spotlight once again to evaluate progress we are making in building an integrated safe and affordable transport system that acts as a catalyst, not a constraint, on a society and economy that works for everyone.”
