Transport Minister Creecy ramps up SA roadway safety operations after spike in road fatalities

The vehicle was involved in a horror crash outside of Mbizana. The driver allegedly ploughed into a group of men killing six. (Photo: Supplied)

By Victoria O’Regan

19 Dec 2024

The sharp rise in road fatalities so far this festive season has been particularly pronounced among pedestrians, says the Transport Minister.

South Africa has seen a spike in road fatalities since 1 December, compared with the same period last year, which Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has said “threatens” the department’s expectations to have fewer road fatalities this festive season.

Creecy released her department’s mid-festive season road safety report on the side of the N1, in Touws River, Western Cape, on Thursday morning.

Read more: Cape Town to deploy record 5,000 law enforcement personnel for festive season

She said 439 fatal car crashes have been recorded, which is a 3.1% increase when compared with 426 fatal crashes recorded in the same period last year. These crashes have resulted in 512 deaths so far, compared with 499 in the same period last year.

“This is a statistically significant 2.6% increase in fatalities and it threatens our expectations to have fewer fatalities over this season,” said Creecy.

Of the 512 fatalities, most were pedestrians (45.6%), which Creecy said was “deeply concerning”.

“Major crashes, where five fatalities were recorded from one incident, had a significant impact on the number of road deaths in this period. Four major crashes were recorded in the period under review, with 30 fatalities,” she said.

This vehicle was involved in a horror crash outside of Mbizana. The driver allegedly ploughed into a group of men, killing six. (Photo: Supplied)

The transport minister’s press conference comes days after a head-on collision between an SUV and a minibus taxi, on the N9 near Graaff-Reinet, killed 15 people.

According to Creecy, the provincial records on car crashes and fatalities since 1 December are as follows:

Gauteng experienced 96 fatalities from 90 crashes;

KwaZulu-Natal experienced 77 fatalities from 71 crashes;

Western Cape experienced 74 fatalities from 61 crashes;

Eastern Cape experienced 54 fatalities from 47 crashes;

Free State experienced 52 fatalities from 33 crashes;

Mpumalanga experienced 44 fatalities from 41 crashes;

North West experienced 36 fatalities from 31 crashes;

Limpopo experienced 58 fatalities from 47 crashes; and

Northern Cape experienced 21 fatalities from 18 crashes.

There’s a car crash, on average, every 10 minutes in South Africa. Last year, 10,180 people died on the country’s roads.

This is a statistically significant 2.6% increase in fatalities and it threatens our expectations to have fewer fatalities over this season

The festive season generally sees a surge in road accidents due to factors including increased traffic volumes, alcohol consumption, fatigue and adverse weather conditions. Between 1 December and 11 January last year, 1,427 people died on the roads in South Africa. This was a subtle decrease from 1,452 people in the 2022/23 festive period.

On Thursday, Creecy pleaded with the public to wear their seatbelts.

“Please wear your seatbelt. Please strap your children in. We have an explosion of brain damage in very young children in our country,” she said.

Last week, Daily Maverick’s Don Pinnock reported South Africa has the highest child brain trauma from car accidents in the world. The Automobile Association estimates that less than 60% of South Africans wear their seatbelt, and research by Volvo Car SA has found that 52% of people aged 18 to 24 say they “sometimes or never” wear a seatbelt, Daily Maverick reported.

Read more: Not using seatbelts is killing kids, wrecking families and causing SA’s brain trauma crisis

“Road safety is everyone’s responsibility. It is my responsibility; it is your responsibility. Let’s be responsible. Let’s arrive alive this season,” said Creecy.

Ramping up drunk-driving checks

The minister said a total of 575,227 vehicles had been stopped at 561 roadblocks around the country since 1 December.

The number of arrests, she said, has increased from 2,386 recorded for the same period in 2023 to 3,063.

“However, we remain concerned about the high number of people who continue to drive under the influence of alcohol,” said Creecy.

Of the 3,063 arrests, Creecy said a total of 941 drivers were arrested for driving drunk, while 230 were arrested for driving at excessive speeds.

Read more: The carnage on South Africa’s roads is also a human rights issue

Speaking to reporters at a roadblock on the side of the N1, Creecy said that particular roadblock had pulled 50 drunk drivers off the road in the past few days.

“I think part of what has surprised us is that these drivers have been extremely under the influence of alcohol both day and night,” she said.

In 2023, 12,338 people were arrested for drunk-driving in South Africa, with Gauteng and the Western Cape having the highest number of arrests.

Please wear your seatbelt. Please strap your children in. We have an explosion of brain damage in very young children in our country

Creecy said that following a meeting with provincial MECs on Tuesday, they had agreed that there is a need to change their approach to road safety for the remainder of the festive season.

“In the coming days, we will intensify our efforts to drastically reduce pedestrian and passenger fatalities by shifting our focus from the main arterial routes to increased policing inside suburbs, townships and villages,” she said. This was, in part, because people were using mobile apps to identify the location of roadblocks and were moving on to “secondary roads” in order to avoid them, Creecy explained.

It is on these secondary roads where authorities have seen “an increase in major incidents”, according to Creecy.

She said law enforcement operations focusing on drunk-driving and the wearing of seatbelts would also be increased. This included municipalities increasing the number of roadblocks to test drivers for alcohol.

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Arrive Alive advocate Johan Jonck said it was “worthy to note that there has been increased enforcement on our roads”.

However, there is, unfortunately, a significant increase of traffic on the road and with that comes some“unruly road behaviour”.

“We are not a nation of good and law-abiding drivers. We witness a lack of patience and experience reckless overtaking leading to head-on crashes,” he said.

Jonck said it was “concerning” that so many fatalities had occurred on secondary roads, as road safety “is not so easy to enforce in a country that has the 10th-largest road network in the world”. DM

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Ramping up drunk-driving checks