It would seem that the Makhado Municipality’s recent efforts to restore residents' faith in the town's traffic officials are dying a slow death.

In August, residents of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) welcomed the municipality’s efforts to ensure more visible traffic law enforcement. At that stage, municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi confirmed that the increased visibility of traffic officers in town formed part of an on-going drive to restore order.

Judging by the number of vehicle accidents in town the past week, however, it is obvious that the municipality’s new vigour to restore order is not having the desired effect. Speeding and failing to stop at stop signs sre still common offences.

Once again the usual suspects top the list, and this is no reference to the drivers involved but rather to the now notorious Grobler and Songozwi Street and Munnik and Breda Street intersections. Accidents at these two intersections have become an almost weekly occurrence.

A female driver sustained head and neck injuries at the Grobler/Songozwi Street intersection last Wednesday, after a collision with an oncoming vehicle. This follows just two weeks after a similar accident at the exact same place. This intersection is renowned for motorists' running red traffic lights and the question remains: Why does one rarely see any traffic policing there, despite the high number of accidents?

The Munnik and Breda Street intersection also claimed another two victims early on Monday morning, when a light delivery vehicle and a sedan collided. This section of Munnik Street was resurfaced months ago, but there are still no road markings warning motorists of the two-way stop where it crosses Breda Street. This dangerous situation is made worse by the fact that the stop signs are so faded that they are barely visible to motorists.

Following a near-fatal accident at the Munnik Street intersection in June, Bobodi was asked to explain why no road markings were visible at the intersection. His reply was that the contractors were still in the process of completing the project and asked residents to be patient. Ten weeks have gone by and still no road markings can be seen.

“Somebody is going to get killed here and it is going to be the municipality’s fault!” was the response of an irate Mr Wally Shultz, local chairman of AfriForum, at the scene. He was so outraged by the municipality’s lack of responsibility regarding motorists’ safety that he drove around until he found a temporary municipal four-way stop sign and placed it in the middle of the intersection.

“I was threatened with arrest if I do this,” Shultz said.

Civil lawsuits against the municipality are almost sure to follow the recent spate of accidents at the Munnik/Breda Street intersection. Two weeks ago, the Zoutpansberger reported on a case where a woman fell and broke her leg in a pothole in Cronjé Street. She sued the municipality, with the Pretoria High Court, through a settlement agreement, ordering the municipality to pay her R300 000 in damages, as well as legal costs, bringing the total close to R500 000.

Bobodi was asked to explain who would pay for court cases like these, whether the municipality could afford it and whether or not the municipality had insurance against such claims? He responded last week by merely stating : “It is unfortunate that the incident happened … As a law-abiding institution, we obey and subscribe to the rule of law and we are going to effect the payment as ordered by the court. As a way forward, the municipality has developed a draft Street Management Policy which is just awaiting the adoption of the Council. The Makhado Municipality will use this policy to ensure efficient, cost-effective, and organized maintenance of municipality-owned streets throughout the community. This will ensure better safety for residents and a prolonged and improved life of Makhado Municipality streets and infrastructure. The municipality will use private contractors to provide the maintenance where necessary.” None of the questions relating to where the money would come from was answered.