Cry my beloved country! - South Africa

Location

Friday, 16 September 2022

A dash cam footage of a truck driver crossing a double barrier line at high speed and flattening an oncoming bakkie (light truck) spread like wildfire on social media platforms on Friday.

It was confirmed this morning that 20 people died of which 18 were children between the ages of 5 and 12.

The incident happened on the N2 near the town of Pongola in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Close to 70 schools in this province are situated in rural areas. Poverty in the area is considerably high which results that parents cannot afford decent transport. It was reported by the Educational Department that 100,000 pupils are left to find their own transport and often light trucks are used which are illegal.

Scholar transport has been an ongoing discussion between the Department of Education, transport road safety, governing bodies, and parents. According to the government, there are not enough funds available to implement a scholar transport program.

The quality of the N2 road is also questionable. Road users have to deal with road narrowing in stages, potholes, high traffic flow, and the negligence of drivers.

The 28-year-old, Sibusiso Siyaya, handed himself over on Saturday after he fled the scene and police started a manhunt. He found himself in court this morning where he was facing 20 charges of culpable homicide and a case of negligent driving.

South Africans found themselves switching channels this morning between the court case and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. After Siyaya opposed the filming of the procedures as he feared for his safety the court stopped the filming until the outcome of the bail hearing which will be on 26 September 2022. He will stay in police custody until the hearing.

"It is clear that the truck driver violated all the laws in the book. This is the kind of behaviour that is causing fatal crashes and it is unacceptable. The driver must face the music and we will be monitoring developments in this case.” Transport MEC Sipho Hlomuka said.

He also called for residents of the area to stay calm as a truck was torched and roads were blocked by burning tyres to vent their anger.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the lives of scholars were claimed in road accidents. One cannot help to wonder where the line will be drawn.

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Location

Sunday, 18 September 2022

South Africans woke up in darkness just to hear that there are no light at the end of the tunnel. Stage 6 of “loadshedding” or “blackouts” was announced at 04:00 am. This after the countries has been on constant power cuts for the last two week. It is the second time this year and the third time in the history of the country that stage 5 has been implemented.

The result of stage 6 is 10 to 12 hours without electricity per day.

At a briefing yesterday Mr. Andre de Ruyter, CEO of Eskom the energy supplier, told the media that five generating units had to be prepared after they broke down and that emergency reserves, as well as diesel supplies, were depleted.

He also confirmed that 7,7 billion South African rand, (438 million USD) of diesel was burned in the last five months. "We are doing our level best to avoid a total system collapse.”

In the meantime, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa met with the USA President, Mr. Joe Biden over the weekend. One of the items on the agenda was to discuss South Africa’s energy crisis.

Currently, 8.5 billion USD was pledged by western countries to move South Africa away from using coal as the main source of producing energy. A further 38 billion is needed.

These constant power cuts are hindering economic growth and the obtainment of future inventors.

With Eskom seeking a tariff increase of 32% South Africans, and especially businesses will have to find means and ways to get off the grid.

South Africans want action!

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