Meshack Motloung

Meshack Motloung

The North West department of transport and community safety has identified a number of roads which need intense law enforcement and more personnel will be deployed on these roads ahead of the Telkom Charity Cup in Mmabatho on Saturday.

The department has recently built roads around Mafikeng to cater for high traffic volumes during events such as this one-day tournament.

Transport and community safety MEC Phenye Vilakazi has appealed to motorists to cooperate with the law enforcement officers during and after the tournament.

This tournament, which will be played at the Mmabatho venue for the second time, features Orlando Pirates against Platinum Stars in the first semifinal at 10am and Kaizer Chiefs against Mamelodi Sundowns in the second semifinal at noon.

"Ideally we would want to have a situation where we don't arrest or have any confrontation with motorists because this coming weekend is about people enjoying themselves and the game of soccer," Vilakazi said.

"But we'll be prepared to help wherever necessary and also to take action against offenders."

A total of 300 traffic officers, including the elite Jaws of Life traffic unit, have been deployed during the event.

In all the main roads traffic officers will be visible to make sure that soccer lovers travelling to and from Mmabatho arrive at their destinations safely.

There will also be roving officers in Mmabatho from Friday afternoon who will be patrolling the area until the next morning.

Traffic officers and police will be deployed at the roads that include those which connect Johannesburg and Mafikeng, the Pretoria-Rustenburg road and Mafikeng, the Ramatlabama Border road and Mafikeng and the road from Vryburg to Mafikeng.