The Department of Roads and Transport in Vhembe successfully held the Best Driver of the Year Competition at an event that was held at the Makhado Municipality’s testing ground in Louis Trichardt a fortnight ago.

Approximately 90 drivers from the four municipalities of Vhembe (Musina, Mutale, Thulamela and Makhado) participated in this competition. They competed in different categories, such as the rigid truck driver, rigid truck with trailer driver, LDV 3.5 ton driver, articulated truck driver, male bus driver and female bus driver of the year.

According to the deputy manager for road safety in the Vhembe District, Ms Khathutshelo Netshifhefhe, the main objective of the competition was to revise the driving skills of the drivers in the country, as the competition also runs to national level. “The competition involves the drivers of the big vehicles, like buses and trucks. This is where we test all the drivers participating in the competition, on a public road and also inside the testing ground. It’s like when a person is getting tested for a driver’s license,” she said.

Netshifhefhe acknowledged that they were pleased to see that the number of participants for this year’ competition had increased dramatically, especially as more women were also taking part.

“This really shows that people are taking the competition very seriously. This will also assist in terms of reducing the accidents on our roads, where a lot of lives will be saved through this programme,” outlined Netshifhefhe.

The overall winner of the competition and the Driver of the Year was Mr Pieter Nkuna, who participated in the rigid truck driver category. Mr AK Lula from EMS Makhado was the best LDV 3.5 ton driver, Mr NT Mishasha of Coke Louis Trichardt won the division for rigid truck with trailer, Mr Ronald Gabeni of Great North Transport won the bus category for men, while Ms Nditsheni Maima, also from Great North Transport, won the category for female bus drivers.