The latest casualty was that of a family of four hailing from the Eastern Cape, heading to Orkney in the North West on Monday evening. There are calls by some concerned residents on social media for the dangerous gravel portion of the road, which is about a kilometre long, to be closed off to ensure the safety of other citizens.

The danger of the road is with the body of water lying on either side of the gravel patch. Authorities say a number of drivers have since late January 2022 lost control of their vehicles once they hit the gravel portion at high speeds and ended up submerged in the water. This followed flooding in the area due to heavy rain. On 5 February 2022, an Intercape bus liner also ended up in the water, however, no casualties were reported in that incident.

Also read: Another life lost on accident prone R30 road

With respect to Monday’s accident, police were notified that a vehicle with four occupants, including children, had landed in the water by one of the deceased’s sisters. It’s said the siblings got into contact as the vehicle was tragically sinking into the water. Free State police spokesperson, Stephen Thakeng, says all the passengers were certified dead at the scene, and a case of culpable homicide has been registered for further investigation.

Also read: FS's accident-prone R30 reinforced

In early March 2022, the OFM News team paid a visit to the road and saw that contractors were on site to reinforce the road, but this appears to have done very little to remedy the problem.

OFM News