Long distance bus and taxi operators are being offered free roadworthy checks by the City of Cape Town's traffic service ahead of the coming Easter weekend rush. 

This forms part of the City's "Operation Exodus", which is preparing for the mass movement of people across the country to visit friends, family, or attend religious events.

"Checks are done on buses, midi- and minibuses as well as trailers at the Bellville and Joe Gqabi public transport interchanges," a statement said.

Officers can also conduct vehicle checks at the Intercape and Greyhound bus depots.

READ: Easter road death toll up by 14% from last year

If a vehicle is found to be not roadworthy, the driver is given a chance to have the defects fixed and the vehicle will be released.  "These safety checks are entirely voluntary. Some operators make use of the opportunity to secure peace of mind for themselves, but also their passengers. Many others do not.

"This is because some are aware that their vehicles and their drivers are not up to standard."

For the latter category, checkpoints will be set up at strategic points along transport routes to check for licences, drunk driving and unroadworthy vehicles. Private motorists are not left out. They can have free vehicle safety checks at all City vehicle testing stations between Monday April 15 and Thursday April 18.

A list of City-owned vehicle testing stations that will offer the free vehicle safety checks is available on http://bit.do/vts-safetychecks.

Last year, Transport Minister Blade Nzimande announced that 510 people had died on the roads over the Easter holiday. 

That was a 14% increase from the 2017 figure of 449.