Festive season road fatalities jump by 14%
A total of 1 685 lives were lost on the country's roads over the festive season.
Transport
Minister Fikile Mbalula released the preliminary statistics on Tuesday.
The deaths were recorded over a period of 42 days in December and January and the death toll is 14% higher compared to the same period in 2020.
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“The main causes of road fatalities during this period are jaywalking, speeding, bad or slippery road surfaces, overtaking across barriers and poor visibility,” Mbalula said at a media briefing in Gauteng.
Seven provinces recorded an increase in road fatalities.
"This is interesting because these are the provinces that carry the numbers of fatalities every year and that Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are the only provinces that recorded a decline in fatalities while the Northern Cape and Western Cape recorded the highest percentage increases in fatalities.”
There was a drop in the number of road fatalities in KwaZulu-Natal over the festive season.
It's one of only two provinces that recorded a decline in road deaths.
"The Eastern Cape recorded the largest decline fatalities with a reduction of 7.9%, followed by KZN which also recorded a significant 6.5% decline in fatalities."
"The province recorded 275 fatalities as compared to 294 in the same period last year,” said Mbalula.
