68 people hospitalized monthly through road accidents

Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Myeni has highlighted that the Fund received on average about 120 accident notifications per month through the emergency help desk traffic report collaboration with the Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Unit.

Of these notifications, about 68 of these victims are hospitalized on a monthly basis through car accident related incidents, with almost ninety percent of them eventually losing their lives.

Myeni made these remarks when officially opening the Accident Prevention Strategy Formulation which included stakeholders from the sister Funds from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, as well as local relevant stakeholders which included. Road Safety from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the Royal Eswatini Police (REPS), EPR and the Fire and Emergency Services, amongst

others. 

The CEO mentioned that the purpose of this strategy formulation was to ensure a collaborative effort in reducing accidents in the country, as mandated by the SMVAF Amendment Act of 2011.

“We appreciate the support received from our local and international stakeholders as we look towards minimizing accidents in the country. Accidents are a huge burden not only to the Fund but the Kingdom at large hence the need for us to come up with a framework to reduce these accidents and we will not be able to effectively execute this mandate without your support,” he said.

Myeni reminded the meeting on the Funds new proactive Seamless Sincephetelo Strategy 20/24 where the Fund now intervened and initiated the claims process working hand in hand with stakeholders from the evacuation of victims at the accident scene, up until the hospital discharge process.

Senior Manager of Road Safety at the South African Road Accident Fund (RAF) Siphamandla Gumbi also echoed the CEO’s sentiments, highlighting that the aim of the meeting was to share experiences and best practices as the custodians of Road Safety at regional level.

“Road Safety is like a chain with links, therefore if one link is not pulling in the right direction, the other links will not be able to cooperate in the reduction of road accidents therefore it is highly imperative that we all work together as road safety stakeholders in order to achieve the desired outcomes,” he said.