/ 10 February 2009

SA Roadlink volunteers to get vehicles tested

SA Roadlink has offered to send its entire fleet of vehicles to government testing centres, the company said on Tuesday.

The company said it would ”be given the stamp of approval and hopes the exercise may put an end to serious allegations against its safety standards”, said spokesperson Jozi Donjeany in a statement.

SA Roadlink was recently involved in two accidents, one of which claimed the lives of 11 people.

KwaZulu-Natal minister for transport Bheki Cele then withdrew the company’s licence to operate in the province.

A legal and media battle followed between SA Roadlink and Cele, with Cele at one point calling SA Roadlink’s vehicles ”coffins on wheels”.

The company countered that it was being unfairly singled out.

In the statement, SA Roadlink said several of its vehicles had already been sent to testing centres ahead of the December travel season.

”With recent tragic events, however, we are offering our full cooperation and have commenced a new certification exercise that will see every vehicle within the fleet again undergoing thorough mechanical testing,” said SA Roadlink operations manager Herman Steyn. — Sapa