A total of 167 fatalities were recorded on South Africa’s roads during the 2025 Easter weekend period, a 45.6% decrease from the fatalities recorded during the same period in 2024.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said there were 167 fatalities recorded on the country’s roads during the 2025 Easter weekend period, compared to the 307 road fatalities recorded during the 2024 Easter weekend period.
Creecy said all provinces recorded decreases in fatalities. This with the exception of Mpumalanga, which recorded a 27.3% increase compared to 2024. She said 28 fatalities were recorded in Mpumalanga compared to 22 in 2024.
Easter weekend road safety report
Creecy was speaking during a media briefing where she was releasing the Easter weekend road safety report. The report provides an account of the Easter weekend road safety campaign interventions as well as road crashes and fatalities during the 2025 Easter weekend period.
The media briefing took place at the GCIS’ Ronnie Mamoepa Media Centre in Hatfield, Pretoria.
Creecy said the 2025 Easter period had the lowest number of crashes and fatalities seen over the last three years.
She said crashes were reduced from 209 in 2024 to 141 in 2025. This is a 32.5% overall decrease compared to 2024.
No decrease for Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape
“All provinces recorded decreases in crashes except Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. They both recorded an increase. Fatalities were reduced from 307 in 2024 to 167 in 2025 which is a 45.6% decrease.
“Mpumalanga recorded a 27.3% increase compared to 2024. Twenty-eight fatalities were recorded in Mpumalanga compared to 22 in 2024,” said Creecy.
She said the Transport Department began its Easter road safety campaign on March 20.
“We ascribe the overall decrease in both accidents and fatalities to three factors. These are widespread and consistent law enforcement operations across all nine provinces. [Secondly], coordinated action by national, provincial and local government authorities. Significant partnerships between civil society and government resulted in significant messaging that impacted positively on driver behaviour through our ‘It Begins With Me’ campaign,” said Creecy.
Easter road safety campaign to end May 4th
She said the 2025 Easter road safety campaign will end on Sunday, May 4. This is because of the four long weekends that characterise this period.
The provincial breakdown of the 2025 Easter road fatalities per province is as follows:
• Eastern Cape recorded 28 fatalities compared to 29 in 2024;
• Free state recorded seven fatalities compared to 12 in 2024;
• Gauteng recorded 22 fatalities compared to 52 in 2024;
• In KwaZulu-Natal, 27 fatalities were recorded, compared to 47 in 2024;
• Limpopo recorded 13 fatalities compared to 81 in 2024;
- Mpumalanga recorded 28 fatalities compared to 22 in 2024;
• The Northern Cape recorded six fatalities compared to 17 in 2024;
• North West recorded 14 fatalities compared to 21 in 2024; and
• Western Cape recorded 22 fatalities compared to 26 in 2024.
Easter weekend highlights
The highlights of the law enforcement performance during the Easter period (April 17 to 21) are as follows:
• 177 584 vehicles were stopped and checked;
• 44 505 traffic fines were issued;
• 2 018 vehicles were discontinued;
• 1 536 vehicles were impounded;
• 941 drivers were arrested for drunken driving;
• 89 drivers were arrested for excessive speeding;
• 12 pedestrians were arrested for jaywalking;
• Eight drunk drivers were arrested for attempting to bribe officers.
“These statistics tell us that there is a benefit when we start our communication and education campaign earlier than the travel period.
“It shows that the involvement of civil society organisations and collaboration of all law enforcement agencies is pivotal in impacting on road user behaviour,” said Creecy.
“Furthermore, joint planning by law enforcement agencies from national, provincial, and municipal level increases the impact of operations. The Easter weekend statistics are reflective of a broader downward trend in road accidents and accident-related fatalities,” added Creecy.
Worrying pedestrian fatalities
She said road fatalities involving pedestrians now account for 47% or almost half
of all road deaths.
“This shocking reality indicates that our message to pedestrians is not reaching home. We have to do much more work at a local level, where these accidents occur,” said Creecy.
