More than 700 people were killed in road accidents across the country during the first three weeks of the festive season. The festive season kicked off at the beginning of December.
This figure is according to transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga. She was addressing members of the media during the mid-term release of the 2023-2024 festive season campaign statistics at Villiers in the Free State on Friday.
Slight decline
Chikunga said 719 people were killed on South Africa’s roads during the first three weeks of the festive season campaign. This is a 4.3% decline in fatalities compared to the same period last year.
Chikunga said pedestrian fatalities are the leading cause of fatal road accidents, followed by drivers.
During the same period last year, there were 751 fatalities throughout the country because of road accidents.
Chikunga said most of this year’s fatal road crashes during this festive season happened between 7pm and 2am.
She said a new phenomenon is the emergence of crashes between 9am and 11am, on unusual days such as Mondays and Tuesdays.
Breakdown by province
Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces recorded the highest number of fatalities during this reporting period.
Gauteng recorded 187 road accident fatalities, which is a 23.8% increase compared to the same period last year.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded 135 road accident fatalities, which is a 6.3% decrease compared to the same period last year.
Limpopo recorded 88 fatalities, similar to the number of fatalities it recorded during the same period last year.
Mpumalanga recorded 81 fatalities, which is a 6.6% increase compared to the same period last year.
Western Cape recorded 76 fatalities, which is a 1.3% decrease compared to the same period last year.
The Eastern Cape recorded 59 fatalities, which is a 41.0% decrease compared to the same period last year.
The Free State recorded 49 fatalities, which is a 7.0% decrease compared to the same period last year.
North West recorded 37 fatalities, which is a 17.8% decrease compared to the same period last year.
The Northern Cape recorded 16 fatalities, which is a 49.7% decrease compared to the same period last year.
Law enforcement intensified
Chikunga said from December 1 2023, law enforcement officers have been on the ground implementing the department’s road safety festive season plan.
She said law enforcement officers conducted:
- 423 roadblocks nationally in which 753, 823 vehicles were stopped and checked
- A total of 173, 307 infringement notices were issued
- 1, 333 vehicles were discontinued
- 2, 619 vehicles were impounded
- 3, 573 motorists were arrested for various offences. Drunken driving accounted for 1, 114 arrests.
Crucial weekend
As the festive seasons enters its most critical time of Christmas and New Year’s Day weekend celebrations, Chikunga said law enforcement operations will be intensified. These will be intelligence-led and directed at new emerging hotspots. The operations will deal with, among others, drunken driving as well as reckless and negligent driving.
Drastic measures
“It is evident that we must take drastic measures to arrest this situation now before it gets worse. We know that we do not have sufficient personnel. However, we are prepared to do everything possible to increase visibility of officers on the roads. We will address deviant driver behaviour and public drinking,” said Chikunga.
“Municipal traffic police will vigorously implement by-laws that discourage alcohol intake in parks, on pavements and in public spaces. This is to help reduce the number of pedestrians dying on the roads,” said Chikunga.
