1448 died on SA’s roads during the festive season

There were 1448 road fatalities recorded in South Africa during the festive season, from 1210 crashes.

This is a 7% decline in fatalities and 10.3% decline in crashes, year-on-year.

This was revealed by Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula on Friday, as he released the 2020 festive season road statistics in Eldorado Park.

“Even the R573, better known as Moloto Road, which is notorious for road crashes and fatalities, does not appear in the top 20 of hazardous routes this year,” said Mbalula.

Road accidents were expected to be at their lowest this year, with the country under lockdown.

Road fatalities recorded in South Africa during the festive season. Graphic: Costa Makola

However, Mbalula said there were still many people defying the laws.

“While the numbers demonstrate that the majority of South Africans respected the law and observed the curfew, a few intransigent motorists were on the road when they should not be. As a result, 34.1% of crashes happened during the curfew, between midnight and 6am.”

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The breakdown of fatalities per province is as follows:

• Western Cape recorded a decline of 15.9%, with 132 fatalities compared to 157 in 2019-2020.
• KwaZulu Natal recorded a decline of 14%, with 289 fatalities compared to 336 in 2019-2020.
• Limpopo recorded a decline of 8.3%. with 188 fatalities compared to 205 in 2019-2020.
• Northern Cape recorded a decline of 7.7%, with 36 fatalities compared to 39 in 2019-2020.
• Gauteng recorded a decline of 7.2%, with 231 fatalities compared to 249 in 2019-2020.
• North West recorded a decline of 2.0%, with 99 fatalities compared to 101 in 2019-2020.
• Eastern Cape recorded a decline of 1.3%, with 228 fatalities compared to 231 in 2019-2020.
• Free State recoded a decline of 0.9%, with 107 fatalities compared to 108 in 2019-2020.
• Mpumalanga recorded an increase of 4.4%, with 141 fatalities compared to 135 in 2019-2020.

The following roads accounted for the highest number of crashes and fatalities:

• N3 near Harrismith, KwaZulu-Natal
• N2 near Idutywa, Eastern Cape
• N1 near Modimolle, Limpopo
• R37 Mecklenburg, Limpopo
• N12 near Potchefstroom, North-West

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