The R30 between Allanridge and Bothaville has been officialy closed for the second time in just under a month following the death of a further six people this weekend.
The Department of Police, Roads and Transport (DPRT) has closed this death trap until further notice.
In the most recent incident on Saturday (23/04) six people died and five were seriously injured when a white Iveco 22-seater minibus overturned and plunged into the adjacent pan of water, about 5 km from Allanridge.
Since January when heavy rains caused flooding on this stretch of road, 25 people have died and more than 50 have been injured.
Motorists are urged to make use of the following alternative routes:
- Vehicles travelling between Allanridge and Bothaville should use of the S1075 secondary road and the R719.
- If you are travelling between Welkom and Kroonstad, the R34 is the indicated route.
- Motorists travelling to Orkney in the Northwest should use the R76 via Viljoenskroon.
Additional measures are being looked into to make the alternative routes safe and extra road traffic signs will be erected on the R30 to ensure that motorists are aware of the situation.
- Motorists are requested to co-operate and to not unlawfully remove road signs and illegally make use of the R30. An anonymous angry road user says her fleet of drivers uses this road on a daily basis, and the road closure will cost her business dearly.
“We make deliveries, and I have personally used the alternative routes. My vehicles have all been badly damaged by the potholes on these routes.
“The traffic officials only seem to pull people over to check licences. They did not regulate the speeding vehicles.
“How did the bus drive past them on Saturday?
“They should have put stop signs on both sides to stop people and to force them to drive slowly. I have already driven there in the dark and found the traffic officials at the entrance to the township,” she says.
