Festive season road death toll 1465

More than 1400 people lost their lives on South Africa's roads during the festive season, Transport Minister Dikobe Ben Martins said on Thursday.

"According to the SA Police Service, it is estimated that approximately 1465 people lost their lives," Martins said.

Announcing the preliminary road death statistics in Durban, he said 1221 fatal accidents were recorded between December 1 and January 8.

He said about 40 percent of the deaths involved pedestrians, most of whom had walked onto roads while drunk.