South Africa’s Ministry of Transport recently launched Operation Malaisha which targeted bus, freight and logistics transportation mainly headed towards Zimbabwe and Malawi.
On Wednesday evening, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula stopped several overloaded trailers at the Weighbridge heading to Limpopo. Speaking to reporters from the scene, Mbalula said:
Here we got a lot of unroadworthy vehicles and some of them weigh more than what is expected.
All those vehicles are being impounded.
This operation is taking place at night because people think that police are not working 24/7.
At this time of the year, there is an increase in the volume of human and vehicular traffic in South Africa moving towards the country’s northern gateway, Beitbridge, towards the SADC region.
Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans, Malawians, among other nationalities, living and working in South Africa travel home for the festive season, leading to concerns about safety on South African roads.