The South African Police Service (SAPS) last week launched Operation Malaisha targeting unroadworthy and overloaded vehicles in the Limpopo Province destined for Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Speaking from the weighbridge on Wednesday evening, South Africa’s Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula revealed claimed that trailers going to Zimbabwe were heavily overloaded and not roadworthy. He said:
Here we got a lot of un-roadworthy vehicles and some of them weigh more than what is expected.
All those vehicles are being impounded, all un-roadworthy and unlicensed vehicles, as well as those without permits, were taken off the road.
This operation is taking place at night because people think that police are not working 24/7.
Meanwhile, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) partnered with the South African Accident Fund on Wednesday to launch a joint awareness programme aimed at reducing accidents during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
There are millions of Zimbabweans residing in South Africa and every year during the festive season, thousands travel back to Zimbabwe carrying large quantities of groceries and other goods.