Moloto Road has become known as the “road of death”
The major upgrade programme which will cover the entire stretch of the R573 over the next five to ten-year period. This work will be completed in stages with the most critical 25 kilometre section receiving priority attention. Over the years a number of illegal access routes have sprung up next to the road and these will now be closed off through proper fencing and new, safer walkways will be constructed. An amount of R1 billion has been allocated for the upgrade over a three-year period. The 160 kilometres stretch of road runs through three provinces: Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and is used by approximately 50 000 commuters daily. The road remains an important economic route connecting these three provinces.
Moloto Road has earned the title “road of death” because of the accidents that have claimed many lives.
“For a long time the state of this road has been a plight on the region. The Moloto Road has become synonymous with road crashes, bus accidents, injuries and deaths. It has robbed communities of breadwinners and beloved mothers,” said Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters.
Safe systems approach
According to Peters, government has elevated the issue of road safety to become a national priority. We have put policies in place, made changes to legislation and regulations, empowered our traffic law enforcement officials and allocated more resources to government agencies such as SANRAL to introduce engineering solutions that will lead to safer road environments.” South Africa is learning from global experiences and is following the “safe systems” approach to road safety as adopted by the United Nations, which is called the “Decade of Action”, to bring down the accident rates on our roads.
