Mpumalanga Community Safety and Security MEC, Pat Ngomane condemned the burning of a fixed camera located at R40 Road between Mbombela and White River near Rockysdrift.
He further mentioned that it was not yet clear what were the motives of the brazen individual(s) however the investigations are underway.
“The speed camera is usually used to address challenges posed by moving violations, particularly speeding that contributes to most crashes taking place on R40 Road.
“With the burnt camera, the department has brought to book 17541 speeding motorists.
“This clearly indicates the need for such a fixed camera,” said Ngomane.
This weekend alone four people perished on R40 Road Mbombela and Barberton.
Therefore such devices contribute massively to road safety because errant motorists are arrested and messages are sent to would be offenders that government is intolerant of reckless driving.
Ngomane has called on law enforcement officers not to be deterred but to instead continue working hard to bring speedsters to book.
“It was highly regrettable that people destroy infrastructure that could save other people’s lives.
“Nobody has a right to destroy our cameras, instead people should comply with traffic regulations and assist government to bring down crashes,” Ngomane added.
He has called on the police to promptly bring to book whoever is responsible for such anarchically behavior.
He also implored on members of the public who may know what happened to come forward and assist the police with any information that may lead to the arrest and subsequent conviction of the suspect(s).
MEC Ngomane has however warned the road users to obey the rules of the road whether there are cameras on the road or they see traffic law enforcement officers or not.