An alarmingly high 53% of second-hand tyres intended for sale in South Africa are un-roadworthy and pose a serious safety threat. The main concerns include tyres that contain damage on critical sections, fail to meet minimum non-skid depth requirements and have been illegally repaired in the past.

Haffejee has been elected the new chairperson of the SATMC at their Annual General Meeting held in Johannesburg on 12 November 2014. He replaces managing director of Continental Tyres and outgoing chairperson, Dieter Horni, who successfully completed a two year term. “Tyre safety is a critical area for SATMC,” says Haffejee, explaining that they have already begun to prioritise driver safety on South African roads. “We have a role to play in ensuring South Africans arrive alive. We all want our roads to be safe and that means we need to do routine checks on our tyres, especially during the festive season when the roads are extremely busy,” says Haffejee. Used tyres pose a challenge to SATMC’s efforts in increasing road safety. “Used tyres are a huge concern,” says Horni. “What we have seen in recent surveys is an alarming number of damaged tyres offered for sale to the public. These tyres are considered high risk for the user.” SATMC investigations are in the pipeline in order to ensure all South African vehicles’ tyres are safe.