NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 14
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2009
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 07 AUGUST 2009
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 6 â 2009)
Mr A Lees (DA â KZN) asked the Minister of Transport:
Whether any action is being taken to prevent (a) trucks and (b) other motor
vehicles from parking illegally overnight or part of the night along the N3
including at the (i) Mooi, (ii) Bergville and (iii) Tugela Toll Plazas; if
not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
CW16E
REPLY:
The Minister of Transport:
As the Honourable Member is aware, the Department of Transport (DoT) is not
directly responsible for law enforcement on our highways. Law enforcement
is the ambit of the Provincial traffic officers. This may change in the
future with the operationalization of the Road Traffic Management
Corporation. However, in the meantime the following action has been taken
to prevent (a) trucks and (b) other motor vehicles from parking illegally
overnight or part of the night along the N3 including at (i) Mooi, (ii)
Bergville and (iii) Tugela Toll Plazas:-
N3 Johannesburg to Cedara
The portion of the road from Johannesburg to Cedara is part of the
concession contract to N3 Toll Concession (Pty) Ltd (N3TC). The N3TC is
not mandated to carry out any law enforcement on the highway. As mentioned
earlier, law enforcement is the responsibility of the Provincial
authorities. However, annually thousands of rands are spent by N3TC on
joint programmes, initiated between N3TC, the South African Police Service
(SAPS) and the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) to prevent all vehicles from
illegally parking along the N3 and at all Toll Plazas.
For example, prior to N3TC becoming involved on the N3, 200 to 300 trucks
parked illegally along the N3 at Mooi River on a daily basis; today these
numbers have drastically reduced with less than 10 vehicles a day being
parked illegally. N3TC has further initiated truck driver education road
blocks and supports the development of truck stops along the N3. In
addition to this, N3TC meets on a monthly basis with Law Enforcement
Agencies to discuss all matters relating to road safety improvement. These
include a ccontinuous route patrol system along the stretch of road which
updates on available designated parking spaces provided for by ribbon
development, e.g. Shell Ultra City and privately owned truck stops on a
daily basis. Occasionally night time enforcement is conducted by
designated Agencies, which include the SAPS national intervention unit
(crime prevention), local SAPS stations, provincial traffic and municipal
traffic and the N3 route patrol system.
The main focus on the above is to deter illegal stopping and redirecting
drivers to the available designated parking areas and also to deter
hijacking of vulnerable drivers and reduction of incidents/accidents.
N3 Cedara to Durban
From Cedara to Durban, N3 traffic operations are monitored and managed by
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). Several
interactions with stakeholders include, amongst others, the SAPS provincial
and regional crime prevention, police station commissioners, provincial
traffic, public transport enforcement unit, SANRAL, the justice system,
Arrive Alive and other effected and interested community structures,
especially in and around the area of Hilton.
The KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) conducts night-time
patrols and Camperdown Magistrate Court has prosecuted some of the
offenders. Road users are also directed to available privately owned truck
stops in the area. SANRAL, through its maintenance programme, has assessed
the infrastructure and installed measures, i.e. to reduce space available
for illegal parking along the road and to deter drivers from stopping in
undesignated areas.
There have been reduced incidents reported since this action has been
started and we hope to maintain it until this problem is eradicated. We
have also identified companies and vehicles that have been fined for
illegal stopping and we hope to sensitize owners to intervene by advising
their drivers during route planning not to stop in undesignated areas.
This is an ongoing process.