Follow tyre safety requirements

The South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) launched a tyre safety programme on the 1st of September 2023.

SATMC it's concerned about tyre safety in preventing road accidents in South Africa. Road fatalities have reached 12 541 in 2021 and 12 436 in 2022. SATMC wants to raise awareness about tyre inspection, repair, replacing and tread wear indicators.

Poor waste management and regulatory enforcement results in two million worn-out tyres being accessible and sold to consumers with low disposable income. South African Dumping duties on China's tyre imports can contribute to a demand for tyres which have worn-out to tread wear indicators (TWI).

The dumping duties seems valid as, it's a practice where a product is sold in a foreign country for less than the fair price it would receive locally making it difficult for local manufacturers to compete or sell their products. Though South African tyre manufacturers can't meet the demands, previously the truck tyre manufacturing capacity was only about 600,000 units a year, with demand being 1.2m to 1.4m.

That has created a gap in the market for second hand tyres which contribute to road accidents and fatalities. That has to be some of the reasons NAACAM members announced a commitment to invest R4.6-billion into the local automotive manufacturing industry. R2.5-billion was contributed from local manufacturers, and Ozoux stated that this would contribute to increasing the quality of tyres produced in South Africa.

In 2019, it was reported that more than 60 percent of second-hand tyres sold in South Africa are illegal. “That’s a frightening thought when you consider that burst tyres are responsible for 73.5% of accidents caused by the mechanics of a car,” Darren Hayes-Powell, Chairperson of the (SATMC) said at the time.

How much do new tyres cost?

As car tyres have a tread wear indicator (TWI) height of 1,6mm, once it reaches that level, replace your car tyres. Tyres should be replaced between 25,000 to 75,000 kilometers. Tyres are built to last 40 000 km, but use the tyre wear indicators as a tyre safety requirement..