Thousands of officers mobilised for festive season crackdown
KwaZulu-Natal has rolled out its largest Easter road safety operation to date, with a force of more than 3 483 law enforcement personnel and over 105 national traffic officers stationed across the province for the duration of the long weekend and Passover period.
Provincial Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma unveiled the initiative at the Umdloti Road Traffic Inspectorate Centre earlier this week, setting an ambitious target of cutting road deaths by 10% over the holiday stretch. The campaign kicked off immediately with checks on public transport vehicles — 17 buses and minibus taxis had already been inspected by 9am on the first morning, while four vehicles were seized by combined enforcement teams.
Duma revealed that a joint roadblock staged in KwaMashu alongside the South African Police Service, eThekwini Metro Police and other agencies had established the operational tempo for the weeks ahead. The newly appointed Head of Department, Zibusiso Dlamini, is spearheading a team tasked with bolstering the Nenzani La Ezweni Operation across 17 provincial weighbridge stations.
"The most vehicles weighed at a single weighbridge were 40 441 vehicles at the Midway weighbridge, with an average of 3 370 vehicles weighed per month. We have already impounded trucks that were overloads and those that we intercepted moving up and down with fake registration documents," Duma said.
The MEC disclosed that the department is investigating the deployment of artificial intelligence to modernise weighing procedures, boost precision and stamp out fraud. Planned AI capabilities include automated number plate recognition, real-time data analytics and anomaly detection systems. Duma pointed to encouraging recent trends, noting that KwaZulu-Natal achieved a 38% drop in Easter fatalities in 2025, building on the 43% reduction recorded the previous year.
"We have deployed more than 3 483 law enforcement officers and 105 national traffic police officers, who will be operating 24 hours a day, and seven days a week, until 3 May 2026," Duma said.
Unprecedented measures target drunk pedestrians and overloaded vehicles
The provincial government has mapped out an extensive enforcement programme comprising 148 multidisciplinary roadblocks, with more than 80 operations zeroing in on intoxicated driving. A further 118 speed enforcement deployments will focus on high-risk zones and routes popular with holidaymakers and worshippers. Roving teams will also carry out over 17 interprovincial roadblocks, while 91 dedicated operations will monitor scholar transport throughout the break.
In a provincial first, 28 pedestrian enforcement operations will be launched to address the danger posed by intoxicated pedestrians on busy thoroughfares. Duma cautioned that those who neglect to use pedestrian bridges along major routes will face penalties. Unroadworthy vehicles, including taxis, will be pulled off the road, with consequences for both drivers and vehicle owners.
"We will also penalise pedestrians who fail to use pedestrian bridges on various routes."
Authorities are bracing for a significant spike in traffic volumes, with projections of between 1 500 and 2 000 vehicles passing through the province's tollgates every hour from Thursday, 2 April 2026. The round-the-clock deployment will remain in force until early May as KwaZulu-Natal seeks to make its roads safer during one of the busiest travel periods on the calendar.
