Tshwane records fewer incidents but more fatalities this Easter

Fatalities during the 2024 Easter period were higher than in 2023 despite fewer incidents reported in Tshwane.

This is according to statistics reported to the Tshwane emergency services department during the Easter period.

City of Tshwane emergency services department spokesperson Charles Mabaso said 12 motor vehicle accidents and three pedestrian accidents were reported between Friday and Monday, compared to 32 motor vehicle accidents and seven pedestrian accidents reported during the 2023 Easter weekend.

Mabaso said 13 fatalities were recorded in 2024, compared to three last year.

Friday

Three motorists lost their lives and three people sustained injuries ranging from critical to severe when two vehicles collided on Friday, he said. The incident happened on the R55 and Lochner Road in Raslow near Centurion after midnight.

“The Tshwane emergency services department arrived at this incident to find two patients had been transported to Kalafong Hospital by a private ambulance service. Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free trapped motorists from one vehicle,” said Mabaso

In another accident, a bakkie overturned on the N14 before the R55 at about 8.20pm on Friday. Mabaso said the incident claimed the lives of a one-year-old child, a six-year-old child and a young adult. Three patients were transported to hospital with injuries ranging from critical to severe.

Saturday

“A bakkie overturned on Britz Road, north of Pretoria, at about 2am on Saturday. Emergency services found two critically injured motorists trapped inside the wreckage of the bakkie and had to use the jaws of life to free them,” he said.

Four male teenagers were declared dead at the scene after the vehicle in which they were travelling lost control and crashed into a wall on Thabo Sehume Street, between Nelson Mandela Drive and Steve Biko Street in the Pretoria city centre at about 4.30am on Saturday.

Sunday

“A motor vehicle accident occurred on the N1 between Murrayhill and Walmansthal interchange at about 8.20am on Sunday. One person was declared dead at the scene and seven people suffered injuries. One person was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition,” Mabaso said.

On Sunday at about 5.50pm,  a crash involving three cars happened on the N1 southbound before Olifantsfontein Road. Mabaso said two people were declared dead at the scene, three people sustained minor injuries and two sustained moderate to severe injuries.

A house fire that claimed a life was reported to the emergency services department on Sunday. The incident occurred near the Eesterust police station east of Pretoria at about 3.21am on Sunday. 

Mabaso said three people were transported to Steve Biko Hospital in a critical condition and three minors aged between one and nine years were handed to the custody of the police service.

“The house fire was extinguished but the structure suffered extensive damage.”

He said the causes of all accidents will be investigated by law enforcement authorities.

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