Update
ABERDEEN NEWS - The continuing problems experienced at the roadblock outside Aberdeen led to 30 taxi passengers spending Friday night in the Aberdeen Library Hall.
After a lull during the afternoon, traffic picked up again at the checkpoint during the evening, with many of the taxis from the Western Cape heading to funerals in the former Transkei, transporting a body in the trailer.
Sarah Baartman District Mayor Eunice Kekana says many of these taxis were overloaded.
According to the amended regulations of disaster management, only two designated people may be in the vehicle transporting the body. However, at the checkpoint into the Eastern Cape, there were several others in the taxi. The options of returning to the Western Cape with the body, or continuing without all the passengers, were offered, but few chose to return to the Western Cape. The majority proceeded to their destinations, leaving some passengers behind at the roadblock.
“About 30 people were left stranded in the middle of the night, and we felt we could not just leave them at the roadblock” Kekana told the Advertiser. She arranged for them to be accommodated at the Aberdeen Library Hall, where there are toilets and running water. When Kekana called in at 9am on Saturday, a few of the passengers had left, after organising their own transport to continue their journey. She asked the police to take the remaining 24 back to the roadblock.
Kekana explained that there had been many problems with the travellers’ permits. One driver, for example, had a permit to take one family to a funeral, whereas in fact the passengers were from two different families, going to different funerals. Usually the family members’ permits had the correct details, but the drivers’ permits did not.
“There needs to be better communication,” said Kekana, adding that she thought some people had taken a chance, although others were just misinformed. “Many people do not understand that the permit is only valid for 48 hours, and some produced permits dated 10 April for a funeral to be held only on 18 April.”
A question raised by many is that Aberdeen is about 600km from Cape Town, and the taxis should have encountered at least three roadblocks in the Western Cape, including one at the Beaufort West end of the R61. “Why are the Western Cape officials not enforcing the regulations? The taxis should have been turned back long before they reached Aberdeen,” said one tired SAPS member.
Kekana concluded that the police were anticipating more problems on Sunday, when many mourners were expected to make the return journey with expired permits.
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