By Nasiha Khan
Debra Lea-Ann Catin, was laid to rest on Friday 13 May, following a harrowing accident that claimed the 64-year-old’s life a week before, on Effingham Road.
According to the deceased’s son-in-law, Linton Woodenberg, the grandmother of four was returning home from her daily grocery run in Durban North when a delivery truck lost control and veered onto the pavement, striking her. “She was walking up Effingham Road, on the left hand side, just outside her home when the truck lost control and hit her. As her family, we are incredibly broken and trying our best to cope,” said Woodenberg.
The fatal incident has sparked outrage from the community who had previously appealed to the municipality to install traffic calming measures in the area, for a number of years. Over 150 community members showed up to a candlelight memorial held on 12 May, at the corner of Effingham and Wylie Hall roads, to honour the life of Catin.
The chairperson of the Greenwood Park, Effingham and Avoca residents and ratepayers association, Andrew Akkers, said Catin’s death should be laid on the municipality’s door as the residents of Effingham Road have been denied traffic calming installations, despite the area being a hotspot for accidents.
“We have been requesting traffic calming measures for Effingham Road from the 80’s when Corobrick was down where Riverhorse Valley now is. Our parents and grandparents fought to stop Corobrick trucks, laden with bricks, from using Effingham Road due to the numerous accidents back then. These trucks also caused structural damage to many properties as they had noisy air brakes back then which would rattle the foundations and windows as they tried to slow down on the downhill from Ben Nevis Road.”
Akkers added that the municipality has failed to take into consideration the number of courier and distribution companies that have set up shop in Riverhorse Valley over the past two decades. “They fail to understand that Effingham Road was supposed to have been widened 30 years back to accommodate the traffic to and from Riverhorse Valley and Newlands, if one observes, Effingham Road has a three meter open area to the left if driving up from Chris Hani Road, this open space was supposed to have been part of the road widening project which never materialised. The residential area and the three informal settlements has seen a significant increase in vehicular traffic.
“Nandi Drive and Chris Hani Road were both widened and made into three lanes in either direction to cater for courier and distribution company vehicles, they all use Effingham Road as a short cut to race through to Durban North,” he said.
Akkers said their fight to install traffic calming measures proved futile and that the only response that they receive from the municipality was a “cut and pasted” email stating their request is not supported. The latest email in question, dated 29 March 2022, from the Traffic Engineering Branch of the eThekwini Municipality, stated that in terms of the Road Infrastructure Strategic Framework of South Africa (RIFSA), Effingham Road is classified as Class 4 Major Collector Street which functions as a key link between the suburbs of Riverhorse Valley, Greenwood Park, Avoca, Parkhill and Kenville.
“The road facilitates access to emergency services such as fire, police and ambulance services hence the implementation on speed humps along this road will reduce emergency service response times. Based on the outcome of an assessment made by the municipality for speed hump installation at the Effingham Road and Tweed intersections, the resident’s requests were not supported. An assessment of the traffic volumes at various intersections along Effingham Road was conducted an it was determined traffic volumes along Effingham Road are significantly higher than the intersecting Roads which result in an imbalance in traffic volumes at these intersection, as such the request for traffic circles at these intersections are also not supported,” further read the email.
Regarding the provision or pedestrian traffic, during a site investigation, it was noted that Effingham Road does contain sidewalks, which meet the minimum criteria, and street lights along the road, hence no further assessment was required as provision is made for pedestrian traffic. Akkers described Effingham Road as a “death-trap” stating, “Our question to the municipality is ‘are our residents lives expendable?’ How many more innocent lives must be taken before we get these much needed traffic calming measures!”
Catin was describes to be a quite, humble, selfless and beautiful soul who would be missed dearly. She is survived by her husband Collin Catin, daughters Carmen and Renee and son Chad along with her grandchildren Aaron, Ariah, Liam and Ezra.
