In the shadow of the festive season’s joy, a late-night journey on one of Mpumalanga’s busiest highways ended in unspeakable tragedy.
This past Friday, as the Christmas rush reached its peak, a split-second collision between two cars on the N4 near Machadodorp claimed seven lives in a scene of devastating wreckage, serving as a grim reminder of the fragility of life on the road.
As a sole survivor fights for their life in hospital, authorities are left pleading with motorists to break the deadly cycle of holiday road fatalities, a plea echoed by separate, heartbreaking incidents of loss across the country this same weekend.
An Audi and a Honda collided head-on, with the impact so severe that seven occupants six men and one woman were declared dead at the scene.
One person survived the collision and was pulled from the wreckage with serious injuries.
The survivor was rushed to Belfast Hospital, where they remain under medical care.
Authorities have not released further details about their condition.
Emergency services worked through the night as debris was scattered across the roadway.
The N4 was closed in both directions for several hours to allow rescue operations and investigations to continue before reopening under controlled traffic flow.
Mpumalanga’s MEC for Community Safety, Security, and Liaison, Jackie Macie, urged motorists to be vigilant, especially at night when visibility drops.
He emphasised that roads are shared spaces, calling for regular breaks on long trips to combat fatigue.
“Exercise extreme caution,” he said, hoping to spare more families this pain.
“We urge motorists to exercise extreme caution, particularly at night and during peak holiday travel.”
Meanwhile, on Christmas Eve, rescuers recovered the bodies of two siblings who had been washed away in a vehicle in Centurion.
The police reported them missing the previous Sunday.
City of Tshwane Emergency Management Services spokesperson and deputy chief Nana Radebe-Kgiba confirmed that members of the City of Tshwane Emergency Management responded to the incident where a vehicle was swept away.
Three people died in the Inkanyezini area near Lion Park just outside Pietermaritzburg when their car hit a barrier and plunged into a river.
ALSO READ: Scores injured as driver, passenger fight results in bus accident on M1 highway
