Times Of Swaziland: 5 iron ore trucks in malagwane pile-up

5 iron ore trucks in malagwane pile-up
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 WELCOME DLAMINI on 30/01/2012 00:00:00


MBABANE – In a space of 24 hours, five heavy duty trucks carrying iron ore
from the newly-revived Ngwenya Iron Ore mine overturned while descending
Malagwane Hill along the Mbabane-Manzini highway.
The trucks are all contracted to Salgaocar Swaziland PTY Limited, which is the
company that has revived the historic mine.
Four of the trucks overturned yesterday morning while the other overturned on
Saturday and its driver is presently admitted to the Mbabane Government Hospital
with a reported fractured arm.
For close to nine hours, the Mbabane-Manzini lane between Baha’i and Ezulwini
was closed to motorists as the four trucks blocked the road.
By 5pm, tow trucks from Van Wyk were removing the last truck from the road.
No one was killed during the accidents as all the drivers were at the scene and
had been declared in good condition by the medics there.
Yesterday, three of the trucks overturned near Kapola Guest House while the
fourth one overturned near Baha’i, just 200 metres away from the others.
The fifth truck overturned next to the late Karl Grant’s house, at the spot
where a kombi carrying senior national soccer team players had an accident
killing Royal Leopard star Mduduzi ‘Mathousand’ Dlamini on the spot.
The fourth truck overturned while police, fire personnel and medics from the
Emergency Response Unit were busy attending to the three other trucks near
Kapola.
According to witnesses, the three trucks overturned after one of them, that was
coming from behind, lost its brakes just before reaching Baha’i.
"We were on board a Quantum that was following the truck when we saw its tyres
emitting smoke. This happened just as we were about to overtake it and we told
the driver to follow from behind. The truck then gained speed but the driver did
well to control it and negotiate the bends," a passenger, Zandile Vilakati said.
She said after negotiating the last bend heading for the Kapola stretch they
realised that there were two other trucks in front.
"These other trucks were also overtaking each other and, seeing that the one
behind them was moving fast, they moved in separate directions to allow it to
pass in the middle. That was when the one on the left overturned and the other
one on the right also overturned after hitting the concrete wall that replaced
the guard rails," Vilakati said.
Another witness, Primrose Matsenjwa, said when the two trucks overturned, the
third one hit their trailers that had blocked the road, causing its trailers to
overturn.
Police Public Relations Officer Superintendent Wendy Hleta said the third truck
could not pass in the middle of the other two because the space was too small.
The fourth, Hleta said, overturned after losing its brakes from as far as Karl
Grant’s place and the driver decided to intentionally hit it against the
concrete wall to bring it to a halt.
"After hitting the concrete wall it overturned and two vehicles were damaged in
the process but luckily no one was seriously injured," Hleta said.
The two damaged vehicles are a Toyota Hilux bakkie and a kombi that were both
travelling down the Hill.
"One passenger in the Toyota Hilux was injured by the sand (iron ore) from the
truck and was rushed to hospital but is in a stable condition," Hleta added.
It was long overdue - MP Robert Magongo
MBABANE – Motshane Member of Parliament Robert Magongo said the accidents
caused by the trucks were inevitable.
Speaking in his capacity as Chairman of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works
and Transport, Magongo said the accidents have exposed the shortcomings of
government. "The trucks travel along the roads at high speed which is why I say
this was long overdue. This is a sign of the downfall of the Ministry of Public
Works," the, MP said.
He continued: "The speed at which the trucks travel is like they want us to wake
up one day and find that they have taken everything out of the country. The
trucks travel day and night and you wonder what the hurry is?" Magongo
challenged government to tell the nation the benefits that Salgaocar has brought
to the country.
""The trucks pay only E80 when entering Swaziland but trucks from Swaziland
entering Mozambique pay E1 200. Who is looking after the interests of Swazis?
Government must wake up and look after interests of Swazis," he said. He further
observed: "The country’s roads have already been damaged by these trucks. How
are we going to repair them?"
Ntuthuko sympathises, says toll gate could be the solution
MBABANE – The Minister of Public Works and Transport Nthuthuko Dlamini has
extended his ministry’s sympathies to the truck operators following the series
of accidents.
Reacting to the news yesterday afternoon, Dlamini said he was saddened that the
truck companies would incur expenses due to the accidents.
"We trust that the vehicles were insured as Salgaoacar had said they would only
contract people who insured their trucks and who would be able to continue with
the work after compensation. Such an incident should be a warning to the rest of
the public to drive carefully when they see trucks and keep them in front of
them," he said.
He acknowledged that a lot of people had raised concerns over the alleged high
speed of the vehicles including Motshane MP Robert Magongo.
"The trucks are quite powerful and we hope they will speak to each other about
that to reduce the speed. As far as I know the agreed following distance was
also supposed to be about 10 minutes so that they are not close to each other,"
he said. He also decried the state of the Manzini-Mbabane road especially along
Malagwane saying it needed a toll gate to ensure that it was rehabilitated.
"The surface is now very smooth. It needs to be resurfaced and this is
especially evident when it rained. It was going back to the old days when
Malagwane had a bad reputation and we do not want that. A toll gate would help
so that even if government has financial challenges it would still be
rehabilitated," he said.
He said the road was meant to be resurfaced after five years or there should be
a toll gate.
Meanwhile, Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Wendy Hleta said they
are investigating if there are possible charges that could be laid against the
five truck drivers who were involved in the accidents.
"We have to look at a number of factors that include the roadworthiness of the
trucks and possible recklessness by the drivers. We might also have to look at
the gears that the drivers engaged on their way down the road," Hleta said.
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Comments
Seems like Karma is working wonders in Swaziland. Why only Salgaocar trucks? If
I may ask. What Salgaocar is doing is not right! They've colaborated with
untrustworthy people to take our iron ore. What do we benefit? Nothing! Only
those who got iPads and others whom I won't mention benefit. Instead they are
degrading the Ngwenya>Mbabane>Manzini>Siteki>Mhlumeni road. I pity the drivers,
but it serves the company right!!!
Jan 30, 2012, 9:40 AM, Lord Anthony (Anthonym198@gmail.com)
This accident has been waiting to happen. These trucks drive on the highway with
no regard for speed and/or safety or other vehicles on the road. I have
witnessed their excessive speed even in wet conditions and I am not entirely
suprised that this accident has happened. It speaks to the larger problem of
contracting "foreign" transport operators who are not familiar with our roads
and let then have free reign and no accountability. Next time, Swazi Lives will
be lost and it could be anyone of us who uses the highway.
Jan 30, 2012, 9:40 AM, Cecilia (bongilekanya@gmail.com)
Not only is our only highway being damaged by these trucks, our people are going
to die from these accidents. This iron ore mine must be closed until another
form of transport can be found. Why not make a railroad going to South Africa
and connecting with Komatipoort? Or create a cable link like the one in Bulembu?
Jan 30, 2012, 9:40 AM, Concerned Citizen (concern@gmail.com)