Hundreds of residents from around Thulamela came in their numbers to witness the official opening of the new Thohoyandou Traffic Station.

The station, opened by the MEC for Roads and Transport, Pinkie Kekana, is one of the three in the province opened last week. The three stations, with one at Moutse and the other at Mokopane, were built at a total cost of R40 million

The new station comes as a relief to locals as the old and dilapidated Sibasa traffic station could no longer meet the demands of local communities. It was opened on Wednesday last week.

Kekana said the opening of the Thohoyandou Traffic Centre was a milestone and an important step in the department’s efforts to deal with carnage on the roads. According to her, the carnage on South African roads could not be overcome by traffic officers alone, but needed a concerted effort by all relevant stakeholders. She warned that road safety was not only an issue that should only come up during Easter or Christmas time, when the volume of traffic on the roads soared, but should be practiced everyday.

She said the province had suffered more than 468 road deaths, stemming from 347 road crashes, in the first nine months of the year. The Thohoyandou district alone accounted for 55 deaths, she said.

The three stations will collectively accommodate about 240 law enforcement officers and render law enforcement services to 37 provincial roads.