December crackdown — South African traffic authorities intercept 2 Zimbabwean buses with 80 passengers
The Limpopo provincial Government in South Africa, has raised concern over the continued disregard of traffic laws during the festive season, especially by cross border buses and local public transport.
So far this week the traffic and community safety intercepted a Malawian bus overloaded with 117 passengers, two Zimbabwean cross border buses overloaded with 82 and 79 passengers, respectively.
These buses, along with more than 20 light delivery vehicles and heavy motor vehicles with roadworthy trailers, were impounded for putting lives at risk.
Limpopo province’s Member of Executive Committee (MEC) responsible for Transport and Community Safety Ms Violet Mathye said they were not relenting on their quest to restore sanity on the roads.
“We are deeply concerned about the scourge of overloading on our roads, particularly with the festive season in full swing,” she said.
“Today, 21 December 2025 at 0400, our officers at the Zebediela Traffic Control Centre (ZTCC) intercepted two buses and over 20 other vehicles for serious breaches of road safety regulations.
“The first bus is certified to carry 63 passengers but it was found carrying 72 adults and 10 minors (82 occupants) while travelling from Durban (KZN) to Zimbabwe and the second bus was travelling from Johannesburg to Zimbabwe carrying 79 occupants. This is against a certified carrying capacity of 70 people.”
She commended the traffic officers for their diligence in keeping Limpopo’s roads safe and urged other provinces to strengthen inter-provincial cooperation with law enforcement.
The MEC said it was unacceptable for buses to travel from as far as KwaZulu Natal province (KZN) and get stopped in Limpopo.
“Enforcement must start at the source. To all transport operators, flouting safety rules will not be tolerated. We will continue to deal with irresponsible drivers and operators,” she declared.
In the other incident, traffic authorities intercepted a 65‑seat cross-border bus travelling from Gauteng to Malawi overloaded with 117 passengers.
The bus was intercepted on Thursday at the N1 bypass adjacent to Peter Mokaba Stadium after officers observed a severe overload.
It was carrying one driver, 101 adult passengers and 15 minors against a carrying capacity of 52 travellers.
The incident comes a few weeks after an overloaded Zimbabwean cross border bus plunged into a cliff outside Makhado causing the death of 44 people among them 36 Zimbabweans and eight Malawians.
A total of 49 passengers were injured during the incident with some still hospitalised across Limpopo province.
The bus, which was en route from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape to Harare, was also overloaded, carrying 91 passengers despite having a seating capacity of only 62. *_-H-Metro_*
