South African orders probe into road carnage

The South African government on Tuesday ordered an investigation hours after a road accident killed at least 29 people and injured 30 others, one of the worst in recent years. "President Jacob Zuma has learned with shock of the tragic loss of life in the road crash involving two trucks, a bakkie and a bus in Mpumalanga," said the Presidency. A truck collided with an approaching bus from Pretoria as it attempted to avoid a stationary bus in the eastern province of Mpumalanga on Monday night. "President Zuma has urged the law enforcement authorities to swiftly get the bottom of the causes of this tragedy," the Presidency said. "This carnage must stop. It is completely unacceptable, and the law must be firm on those found to have flouted any rules and regulations of the road, leading to such high fatalities," the Presidency added. On behalf of the government and all South Africans, President Zuma expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident and wished a speedy recovery to all the injured. According to the president's order, Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters had appointed a high-level investigation team to unearth the cause of the deadly road accident. The team consists of officials from the Department of Transport, Road Traffic Management Corporation and the Mpumalanga provincial government. Peters warned in Pretoria whoever breaks the law must be punished. In the recent years, fatal road accidents have become one of the thorniest social problems facing the South African government. In June 2012, a bus carrying 70 passengers plummeted off a bridge in the eastern province of Gauteng, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens more.