Five Zimbabwean nationals perished when their bus travelling from Johannesburg to Harare overturned outside Mokopane in South Africa’s Limpopo province on Sunday night.
The accident also left numerous passengers with injuries of varying severity.
This incident comes on the heels of another catastrophic event last Tuesday when 10 individuals traveling from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg lost their lives under similar circumstances.
These consecutive tragedies have cast a spotlight on the safety of cross-border travel – a lifeline for many Zimbabweans who regularly commute to South Africa to purchase wares for resell home or to visit relatives across the border.
Limpopo provincial minister for transport and community safety Violet Mathye on Monday called on cross-border public transport operators to prioritise passenger safety to prevent further tragedies on the roads.
In a statement following Sunday’s calamity, Mathye emphasised the need for ensuring that drivers are “fit for purpose,” hinting at driver fatigue as a potential contributor to these fatal occurrences.
JN/APA