The concerned residents of Whetstone, Phoenix, are calling for road blocks and traffic law enforcement operations to be intensified following several accidents in the area, of which three occurred on the same day.
Residents said the frequent accidents were a direct cause of reckless and negligent driving. Angered by this, the residents staged a placard demonstration to highlight their concerns regarding the accidents along the intersection of Whetfern Drive and Lenham Drive last week. “There are school children and elderly folk that walk on the pavements daily and with so many drivers driving recklessly, innocent lives remain at risk which is a huge concern for us. Motorists, including taxi and Uber drivers, don’t follow any rules of the road and have no regard for other road-users – they drive in the oncoming lane, sidewalks and pavements on high speed, which is unacceptable and puts other people’s lives in danger. We’ve had numerous complaints laid with the Phoenix SAPS, Phoenix Taxi Association and Durban Metro and received no response from these departments to date,” said Perumal. He said the demonstration was to show motorists that the community wants to take their roads back. “We want to take a stand, safeguard our roads and make travelling on these roads safe for our children and the elderly who utilise them on a daily basis. There’s been far too many accidents occurring on this intersection and we are saying that enough is enough. We are open to joining forces and working with all the relevant departments to ensure that our roads are safe for everyone to use and for the law enforcement to take a firm stand against law breakers,” said Perumal. Ward Councillor Samier Singh said they simply wanted motorists to make road safety their number-one priority and to deal accordingly with those who break the law.
“We do understand that there’s huge traffic, especially during peak hours, but also request that motorists leave early if they have to meet a certain destination at a certain time. I have personally written to the head of Metro Police, Mr Steve Middleton, who has requested assistance from the relevant regional commander to ensure that we get some visibility of policing at various areas as this is a common problem all over Phoenix. Motorists are not following the rules of the law and we need this to change because at the end of the day, we cannot afford an accident to happen and we can’t afford a life to be lost due to reckless and negligent driving. We are willing to work with Metro, however, they need to play their part as well, to ensure the safety of all road-users,” said Cllr Singh. Cllr Singh said he will be putting forward questions to council with regards to the intersection and request for Metro Police to be present at the intersections which is a huge demand in Phoenix. Whetstone resident, Ruben Govender, said he was concerned about the safety of the children who walk to school on the road daily. “We recently witnessed two incidents where pedestrians were knocked down while walking on the pavement and this is one of the reasons why we decided to get together as concerned residents to try and get the attention of the community in an attempt to change the mindset of the drivers to be cautious of our children and the elderly that walk on this road.” Phoenix SAPS Communications Officer, Captain Louise Naidoo, said that Phoenix Police were not aware of the issue as it was not formally communicated with SAPS.
Chairman of the Phoenix Taxi Association, Ashley Singh, said: “We have always tried to assist when approached and if the relevant people are constructive and willing to work together, I am more than happy to sit down and discuss a solution but a lot of the times, it is easier for people to take a narrow point of view on this. Before the BRT construction started, we begged the City to work with us and create a solution to the traffic, but we were ignored and contracts were awarded to people that have no regard or respect for the taxi industry. I am responsible only for Phoenix taxis, not the buses or other association taxis and can assure the public that I am willing to work with them to alleviate the problems as well as discipline our drivers but we are not the only culprits here, outside association vans, buses, Avanzas and lift clubs all contribute to what I can only call a lack of respect.” “Any solution requires people to work together, in this case, we are willing but Metro Police, eThekwini Transport Authority as well as the BRT contractors need to find a common solution. We know what the problem is but we have to understand the underlying issues like the robots being out of sync, bottle necks being created by construction etc. This would never happen in a suburban area but is allowed to happen in Phoenix because there is little regard for us. We are committed to being part of the solution and request the relevant people to contact me to set up meetings,” added Singh. Ashley Singh can be contacted on 083-405-0608.
