YEAR in and year out we cry and mourn. The number of orphans is
increasing. Moloto Road, why you? Is it a matter of coincidence or by design?
As my role model Mzwakhe Mbuli says: “We cannot stand aside and
look when people are dying like flies.” And all due to unroadworthy and reckless
driving by Putco drivers. Sbu Ndebele, what are you doing about these Putco
buses on Moloto Road? Are you treating them with velvet gloves.
A bus that was carrying 80 passengers from Mpumalanga overturned on
the horrendous and notorious Moloto Road and four people died. Four more were
seriously injured, including a baby who could be brain damaged. This was the
third Putco bus accident last month.
The ink was not yet dry when another Putco bus collided with a
truck on the very same road and 10 people died. May their souls rest in peace.
Putco buses are moving coffins.
It is alleged that bus company Putco did not comply with a request
from the Gauteng Department of Community Safety to have all its vehicles tested
for roadworthiness. What is the department going to do?
Drivers should be punished and jailed if they are found to be
reckless.
Scores of people are going to lose their lives during the festive
season due to reckless driving and the intake of unholy water while behind the
wheel.
The minister of transport should interfere and double check if
these Putco buses are roadworthy.
It is not only Putco buses: plenty of
buses are not roadworthy. People are still going to travel long distances to
spend the festive season with their families and they should arrive alive, not
at mortuaries.
Tshifhiwa Magadani
Makhado