Calls for immediate action on M7 Solomon Mahlangu Drive following fatal accidents

A concerned group of road users is trying to highlight the dangers posed daily on the M7 Solomon Mahlangu Drive between Pinetown and the N2 Bridge. 

But just who is in charge of law enforcement and road maintenance on the M7, formerly known as Edwin Swales Drive, has left the concerned group baffled.

The group was caught between back-and-forth email correspondence between the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) and the Durban metro police since they started a fresh wave of emails in the first week of January 2026.

Nilesh Maharaj, the coordinator of the safety campaign, was concerned about the collision rate on the M7 and motorists' safety.

Maharaj has attempted to get the attention of the municipal and provincial authorities to address the concerns for nearly four years. The road users in the interim fear for their safety.

These are some issues Maharaj has highlighted:

1. Poor lighting and visibility. 
2. Uncut verges and bushes. 
3. Poor to no stormwater drainage. 
4. There are no permanent AI or speed monitoring cameras. 
5. Poor to bad road surfaces. Most lanes now have tyre tracks due to heavy motor vehicles. 
6. Too few lanes in both directions to accommodate the influx of both light and heavy motor vehicles. 
7. No arrestor bed. 
8. No weighbridge (or truck scale). 
9. Little to no law enforcement of speed, correct weight lane usage, and compulsory STOP under the Bellville Road Bridge.  
10. No enforcement of heavy-duty vehicle curfew.  
11. No precaution measures for hazardous and dangerous goods transport and/or emergency plans.

“There are solutions that can be implemented with immediate, medium, and long-term duration periods. We are losing lives due to frequent dangerous and fatal accidents,” Maharaj stated. 

He was motivated to pursue his safety campaign after two people died in a collision between a truck and a motor vehicle on the M7 on January 25, 2026. 

Two others were injured on the M7 Pinetown-bound. According to ALS Paramedics, both vehicles had left the roadway after the collision and had gone down an embankment.

ALS Paramedics reported that the light motor vehicle was found overturned, with two occupants trapped inside. A man in his 60s and a woman in her 40s died at the scene.

The truck driver and a passenger were located down an embankment. Due to the terrain, a rope rescue system had to be set up to bring them to the roadside.

“We seek the municipality's guidance, advice, and assistance in resolving these concerns following due processes. We all should work in unison on achieving the end goal, but instead, none of the law enforcement want to own up to who is responsible for the M7. Road users cannot afford any further delays to the implementation of solutions,” Maharaj said. 

In email correspondence to Maharaj concerning law enforcement, the Durban metro police stated that the road in question falls within the “prerogative” of the Roads Department and RTI.

The municipal website also stated that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (KZN DoT) is responsible for maintaining all provincial roads (1,411km), including the M7.

Ndabezinhle Sibiya, spokesperson for the KZN DoT, said the department will discuss the matter with engineers in the eThekwini region before issuing a detailed statement. 

On January 17, 2024, Constable Nozipho Zuma, 38, from the Bellair police station, was struck by a truck that ploughed into an accident scene on the M7 Highway.

Zuma and her colleagues, including metro police, were attending to an accident scene and were diverting traffic when she was struck by a speeding truck.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za