On Monday, 20 January 2025 the Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy delivered the 2024/25 festive season road safety campaign and shared preliminary data.
The transport ministry says, in
spite of the terrible crashes and fatal injuries that occurred over the festive
season, road users continue to disobey the traffic laws with no regard for
human life.
Courtsey: X- @DoTransportSouth Africa witnessed 1,502
deaths resulting from 1,234 fatal crashes during the 2024/25 festive season.
The Eastern Cape,
KwaZulu-Natal and Free State recorded increases of 70, 54 and 21 fatalities as
compared to 2023/24 while Gauteng, Western Cape and Mpumalanga recorded
decreases of 76, 23 and 15 deaths respectively. Creecy conveyed her condolences.
“I want to convey our
heartfelt condolences to the families who lost loved ones during this period
and our well wishes to all those who are still recuperating in hospitals as
well as at home”
To combat these fatalities, traffic
law enforcement officers conducted more than 997 roadblocks throughout the country.
Officers issued more than 700
000 fines for various traffic offences across. More than 23 000 fines were
issued to drivers who failed to wear seatbelts, while another 16,925 motorists
were fined for using cell phones while driving.
A total of 414 drivers were arrested for driving at high. The highest speedster was arrested in Gauteng driving at 245km/h in a BMW on the 18th of December 2024. The ministry calls on the justice system to serve these drivers with what they deserve.
Courtsey: X- @DoTransport“On behalf of the national
Department of Transport, provincial MECs and their departments, and all law
enforcement agencies, I call on the courts to treat these cases with the
seriousness they deserve.
There must be consequences for
drivers who break the law with wanton disregard for the lives of other road
users, whether it is for speeding or drunk driving or any other offence which warrants
arrest and prosecution” Creecy.
Another concern noted by the
ministry is pedestrians. According to
the minister, 41% of all road fatalities were pedestrians. The highest
percentage of pedestrian fatalities were recorded in Gauteng, Western Cape and
KwaZulu-Natal which are the most populous provinces in the country in terms of
vehicles and people.
Gauteng had the highest
pedestrian fatalities at 63.84% followed by Western Cape with 53.9% and
KwaZulu-Natal with 44.33%.
The minister said the message to pedestrians is
clear - if you want to stay alive while using the roads, you must make sure
that you:
• Do not consume alcohol and then walk on the
roads;
• Ensure that you are visible at night and
walk in areas that are well lit;
• Avoid jaywalking; and,
• Cross the road at a pedestrian crossing or where it is safe to do so.
“We remain steadfast in our
commitment to confront lawlessness and dangerous driving. I want to appeal to
motorists to exercise care and patience on our roads but, at the same time,
those who break the law must know that our traffic officers across the country
will continue to crack down on those who don’t care about the lives of others.”
Let’s work together to make
our roads safer; let’s change our behaviour and save lives.
Done by: Elona Sibunzi
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