While families cope with the grief of losing 17 children and a teacher after a truck smashed into a school transport vehicle three weeks ago, an enraged northern KZN community is turning away trucks from the N2 and demanding action.

Thandi Simelani, 40, laughs as she remembers her daughter Thingo's antics. "If she were here, she would have asked a hundred questions by now, jumping off the couches, back and forth to the door," Simelani says.

Her laughs quickly turn into tears when she thinks of all the things Thingo (5) will never get to do. "I thought she would be an athlete, because she loved physical activity, dancing, sports, playing outside, she could never stay still for too long."

Thingo is one of 18 children and a teacher who died in a horrific crash in Pongola when a truck collided head-on with a scholar transport vehicle three weeks ago. Pressure caused by trucks on the roads had been associated with several crashes.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said Sanral plans to attend to the challenges.

Mbalula said about R2.5-billion would be used to expand the N2 highway near Pongola in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The driver of the truck, Sibusiso Siyaya, 28,...