51 killed on Gauteng's roads over long weekend

At least 51 people died on Gauteng roads over the long weekend between Thursday and Monday‚ the province’s community safety department said.

"Gauteng recorded 41 fatal crashes as well as 51 fatalities broken down into 22 pedestrians‚ 11 drivers‚ 15 passengers‚ 2 motor cyclists as well as 1 cyclist‚" said MEC for Community Safety Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.

She said this painted a worrying picture.

"Our law enforcement agencies were hard at work during the busy long weekend ensuring that drivers constantly adhere to the rules of the road and arrested 252 drunk drivers across the City of Johannesburg‚ with Soweto topping the list with a recorded 53 arrests‚" Nkosi-Malobane said.

“It is of great concern that some unwarranted behaviours continued unabated and this has been widely demonstrated by the rate of fatalities during this long weekend. We have noticed that many accidents were caused by speeding‚ driving under the influence of alcohol‚ driving unroadworthy vehicles‚ amongst others‚" she added.