Death doesn't take an Easter holiday

Drownings and road accidents had claimed dozens of lives halfway into the Easter weekend, but one potentially massive disaster - the reported crash of a Jumbo jet in Hout Bay harbour - proved to be exaggerated.

National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon said two men drowned at a KwaZulu-Natal South Coast beach while saving two children from the waves, and another swimmer was missing, presumed dead, at Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape.

He said a member of the public called emergency services on Friday to report that a Boeing 747 had crashed into Hout Bay harbour, but the aircraft turned out to be a microlight. The pilot was rescued unharmed.

Meanwhile, holidaymakers on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast were treated to an unscheduled air show when the pilot of another microlight was forced to make an emergency landing on the beach.

The 53-year-old pilot landed in a people-free zone on Umkomaas main beach yesterday afternoon.

Netcare 911 spokesman Jeff Wicks said: "There was apparently a problem with his fuel line, and he decided the safer option would be to land the plane. He was uninjured."

Lambinon said that a young boy got into difficulties off Warner Beach.

His sister tried to help him, but also began struggling.

"The father reportedly drowned while rescuing the daughter, and an unidentified bystander drowned after going into the water to assist," he said.

The children were taken to hospital in a stable condition.

In Port Alfred, a 23-year-old student at the local flying school was reported missing after going swimming at West Beach on Friday. "Despite an extensive sea, air and shore search, no sign of the missing man was found," said local NSRI station commander Juan Pretorius.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation said it would release death and accident figures only once they had been confirmed two weeks from now.

But the corporation's acting CEO, Collins Letsoalo, said 15000 fines were issued for overloading, speeding and drunken driving - the majority of those in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Limpopo. More than 150 people were arrested countrywide.

In one of the worst road accidents so far this weekend, six of seven people in a Nissan Sentra - a car designed to carry a maximum of five - were killed when the speeding vehicle overturned on the R63 between Somerset East and Pearson in the Eastern Cape.

Arrive Alive provincial spokesman Tsepo Machaea said: "The accident was so bad that you could not even identify who was driving, because the bodies were scattered all over the road, a clear sign that no-one was wearing a safety belt."

Another six people died in other crashes in the province.

Obed Langa, the road safety manager for Limpopo, said road deaths in the province had been cut by half compared with the same period last year.

Since Thursday, 11 people had died on the province's roads, including four pedestrians, five drivers and two passengers. In the same period last year, 26 fatalities were recorded.

Six people were killed in two separate head-on collisions on the N1 in the Karoo.

Western Cape traffic authorities said two people were killed and two seriously injured in a crash on the N1 between Touws River and Matjiesfontein.

In Cape Town, three men died of multiple injuries when their car smashed into the side of a bus. Another driver was killed when a tyre burst and his car overturned near Swellendam.

Three Cape Town police officers suffered neck injuries on Friday when their car slammed into an uncovered manhole in Bellville.

In Johannesburg, dozens of drivers are spending the weekend in jail after being caught for drunk or negligent driving.

Metro police spokesman Inspector Edna Mamonyane said one of the 25 drunk drivers had a breath alcohol reading of 1.57mg - almost seven times the limit of 0.24mg.