There has been a 13,9% decrease in road fatalities during the festive season with 1 451 deaths on our roads during the 2022 Festive Season, according to Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula who was briefing the media on road traffic statistics at Grasmere N1 Toll Plaza in Joburg today.
However in Gauteng, there was a 5,5% increase in the number of deaths on the road, from 275 to 290 while there was a marked drop from 119 to 94 fatalities reported in the North West Province, a 21% decrease.
“The period under review saw a total of 1451 people losing their lives on our roads; this is a 13.9% reduction compared to 1685 fatalities in the previous year,” he said.
“We also recorded a 6,5% reduction of fatal crashes compared to the previous year when we recorded 1 295 fatal crashes 1 211 this year.
He said Gauteng is the only province that recorded an increase during this period.
“Western Cape fatalities dropped from 207 to 131, resulting in a 36.7% reduction. In Mpumalanga there was a 23.8% drop from 189 to 144. Northern Cape fatalities dropped from 65 to 51, resulting in a 21.5% reduction.
“While in Limpopo deaths dropped from 226 to 179, resulting in a 20.8% reduction. In KwaZulu-Natal the numbers dropped from 275 to 240, resulting in a 12.7% reduction. Eastern Cape from 210 to 205, a 2.4% reduction. Free State fatalities dropped from 119 to 117, resulting in a 1.7% reduction,” Mbalula said.
The Minister said most accidents which led to the death of road users happened from 15 to 28 of December and most crashes occurred between 17H00 and 22H00 particularly over the weekend from Friday to Sunday.
Mbalula said pedestrian deaths continue to be a concern because the numbers increased by 10% year-on-year, from 31% in the previous period to 41% in the current festive season.
“Simply put, out of every 100 road crash fatalities, 41 are pedestrians. In Gauteng and Western
Cape pedestrian fatalities constitute 54% of all fatalities, implying that, out of every 100 people that died from road accidents, 54 were pedestrians.”
