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THERE was more sad news coming from neighbouring South Africa this weekend as a second Zimbabwean bus was involved in a deadly accident in less than one week in the Limpopo province.
On Sunday night, five people travelling from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe died when a Tamuka bus overturned while many passengers sustained injuries of varying degrees according to reports from the neighbouring country.
Last week on Tuesday, 10 people travelling from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg were killed when a bus overturned on the N1 in Limpopo.
Reports on the accident suggested that
the bus drove over a round-about, which is the last traffic circle from Makhado towards Polokwane — at high speed, lost control and overturned, killing and injuring its passengers in the process.
According to a Limpopo Member of the Executive Council for transport and community safety, they are convinced Zimbabwean bus operators are negligent.
She called on the Zimbabwean cross-border public transport operators to ensure their drivers are fit for purpose and also suggested fatigue could have been a cause for Sunday’s accident.
To further illustrate the recklessness on the part of the Zimbabwean operators, the driver who went over a roundabout on high speed was actually new in his job, and not familiar with the road.
The well known procedure is for a new driver to undergo induction and make several trips just observing the terrain and how the established driver goes about the trip.
They are gradually given the role and supervised until they have ticked all the boxes for them to then be allowed to undertake trips on their own.
However, standards have dropped significantly in the sector and a good number of operators are just after revenue even at the expense of human life.
Suddenly road trips to South Africa are no longer safe at the rate at which Zimbabwean buses are killing passengers.
The bus drivers of today are as good as the South African long-haul drivers who work illegally long hours, often to supplement their income and meet company deadlines.
Operators should always ensure that drivers are rested instead of leaving it to the drivers to say when they are tired.
Lack of sleep poses a danger to all on the road and that is why long-distance buses must have co-drivers on the trips.
Also, drivers should be made to stick to timetables, which tend to manage the speed at which these drivers move.
A lot can be done to stop or reduce these deadly accidents and local bus operators simply need to prioritise human life ahead of profits.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter