Makhado (Louis Trichardt) residents have welcomed the Makhado Municipality’s renewed vigour in enforcing traffic laws.

Over the past couple of months, traffic lawlessness in town has spiralled out of control. It has become common practice for motorists not to obey stop signs, to such an extent that motorists are more likely to cause accidents when they actually stop at a stop sign. Speeding is also a common phenomenon, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.

This lawlessness and the municipality’s apparently lack of law enforcement sparked severe criticism from the public and it is against this background that most motorists and residents were delighted to see an increase in traffic law enforcement in town the past weeks.

Municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi confirmed last week that the increased visibility of traffic officers in town forms part of an on-going effort to restore order. He said that they were focussing on general law enforcement, looking at offences such as drunken driving and illegal U-turns.

Readers might remember recent news reports about the challenges facing the Musina Municipality with regard to traffic law enforcement. Traffic officers there were reduced to foot patrols, due to a serious lack of vehicles.

This is not the case in Makhado. Bobodi said that they experienced no such problems and that they recently appointed a further eight traffic officials, bringing the total number of municipal traffic officials to 25.