Over 700 killed on South African roads in festive season so far
Briefing the media on the state of the country's road safety, transport minister Blade Nzimande said KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of fatalities on the country's roads with 162 deaths
THE preliminary mid-festive season report shows that road fatalities have increased in all provinces.
Releasing the preliminary mid-festive season festive report from 1 December, Transport minister Dr Bonginkosi Blade Nzimande said a total of 767 fatalities have been recorded so far in this festive period, which is a 16 per cet increase on the previous period.
“The highest percentage increase was recorded in the Northern Cape with 71 per cent, followed by Free State with 53 per cent and KwaZulu-Natal with 46 per cent.
“KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of fatalities with 162 deaths, followed by Gauteng at 125. Limpopo and Eastern Cape had 89 fatalities each, while Mpumalanga had 82, Western Cape 81, Free State 78, North West 57 and Northern Cape 24,” Nzimande said.
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He said the gender mostly affected was men with a contribution of 72 per cent of the total fatalities.
During this period, traffic law enforcement officers conducted more than 356 roadblocks throughout the country and they issued 326 642 fines for various traffic offences.
“Of particular interest is that 10 666 of these fines were for drivers who did not have a driving licence while 9 620 were for drivers who did not fasten seat belts, 8 481 for driving unlicensed vehicles, 5 811 for driving vehicles with worn tyres and 3 039 for overloading of goods,” the Minister said.
A total of 1 402 un-roadworthy vehicles were suspended or discontinued while 1 310 other motor vehicles were impounded.
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According to Nzimande, a total number of 34 minibus vehicles were involved in fatal collisions since the start of the festive season, while 44 trucks were involved in deadly collisions.
He said many vehicles involved in fatal crashes had a high number of occupants and with most crashes occurring between 7pm and 8pm and between 10pm and 11pm.
Since 1 December, the majority of crashes happened on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
“Light motor cars contributed 47 per cent to the total crashes followed by light delivery vehicles at a contribution of 21 per cent and minibus vehicles with a contribution of 7 per cent and trucks 5%,” the Minister said.
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