More than 700 road fatalities already recorded this festive season

More than 700 people have died in road crashes since the beginning of the festive season, with Gauteng accounting for the most.

Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga on Friday released the midterm 2023/2024 festive season statistics, saying most crashes occurred between 7pm and 2am.

Five provinces — Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape — accounted for 80% of fatalities.

“Crashes have decreased by 0.8% compared with the same period last year, leading to a 4.3% decline in fatalities. 

“In total, 719 fatalities have been recorded in the first three weeks of the 2023/2024 festive season compared with 751 in the same period last year,” said Chikunga.

Passenger overloading and bakkies transporting people need attention, she said.

“Three of the four major crashes reported in this period involved overloaded bakkies.

“In one incident in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, the bakkie had 15 occupants when it collided with another vehicle. Four people in the bakkie died and 11 were injured.”

In another incident, in Gauteng, six occupants of a bakkie died when the vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a truck.

In the third major crash, seven occupants of a Mazda 3 sedan died when the vehicle crashed into a truck.

Overloading of passengers, inconsiderate driving and alcohol abuse were factors in this collision, she said.

In another bakkie incident in the Northern Cape, six people were killed when the bakkie with 10 occupants crashed into the side of a mountain after the driver lost control.

The following action was taken, said Chikunga:

• 423 roadblocks were conducted nationally in which 753,823 vehicles were stopped and checked;
• 173,307 infringement notices were issued;
• 1,333 vehicles were “discontinued”; 
• 2,619 vehicles were impounded; and
• 3,573 motorists were arrested for various offences — 1,114 of them for drunk driving.

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