Africa-Press – South-Africa. The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has raised concerns over the recent long-distance bus crashes in which 10 people were killed in two separate incidents in the Western Cape.
On 13 May, at least six people died, and 32 others were injured in a crash between Intercape and Williams Coach Tours buses on the N2 between Mossel Bay and Voorbaai.
Drivers of both buses were killed in the crash.
On 28 April, four people died, and more than 40 others were injured after the bus they were travelling in overturned on the N2 near Swellendam.
The HG Travelling bus service was tasked with transporting more than 50 churchgoers from St Aidan’s Church in Lansdowne to the Southern Cape. The driver survived the crash.
Western Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Christopher Spies said police were investigating both incidents.
“The case dockets will be submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority(NPA) upon the conclusion of the investigations for a decision to prosecute or not.
“No arrests have been made,” Spies added.
Satawu spokesperson Amanda Tshemese said the recent bus crashes were of “major concern” to the union.
It represents more than 3 700 workers in the passenger sector nationally.
The union said it continuously lobbies for the Department of Labour to address the issue of the “exploitation of drivers” on long-distance buses. The union said the department has so far failed to intervene.
“Our members are exploited and abused by the employer they work for.
“How do the bus companies expect only to have one or two drivers to drive more than 60 people from Cape Town to Gauteng? It is of great concern,” Tshemese added.
She said, “drivers are human beings too” and need proper rest before taking the long road to other provinces.
“When do they get time to rest? The reality is fatigue plays a huge role in these accidents, and it’s the employer’s fault.
Tshemese said:
Satawu said the labour department needed “to work with us to address these issues”.
“We cannot continue to see people dying on our roads at the mercy of bus drivers who are overworked and tired.”
The union said a task team was set up in April in the passenger sector to discuss medical aid matters. However, the union said in their next meeting that a request would be put forward to the team to look into bus crashes.
“We will be requesting the task team to look into these deadly long-distance bus accidents that are claiming far too many lives because this is a concern and it’s a concern that must be addressed. We cannot keep losing people using these long-distance buses to get to their destinations,” Tshemese added.
Meanwhile, Western Cape Mobility Department (WCMD) spokesperson JandreĢ Bakker said a task team would not be considered for the Mossel Bay crash.
“The situation will be monitored,” Bakker added.
He said investigations into the deadly crash [would] be done independently because the Road Incident Management System (RIMS) protocol was activated following this event.
“Following any major incident, a post-incident assessment will then follow. A post-incident assessment of the latest incident is scheduled for June 2023.
“The Road Traffic Management Corporation will then compile a final independent report. The department cannot comment on the status as the final report is not within the scope of responsibility of the WCMD,” Bakker added.
WCMD said it views all road-related incidents in a serious light.
“We use each incident to influence our planning in a bid to make roads safer. Where officers see indications that any vehicle, which includes long-distance buses, may not be unroadworthy, they are referred for testing,” Bakker added.
Bakker added that where there are clear indications of the un-roadworthiness of any vehicle, officers do not hesitate to discontinue and impound vehicles.
Last week (8-14 May), 25 vehicles were impounded, and 195 were discontinued for un-roadworthiness.
These are all vehicle types, said Bakker.
“While there is no report as yet, preliminary indications are that the last two major incidents involving long-distance buses were not due to roadworthy concerns,” Bakker added.
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