There has been a 30 percent reduction in South Africa’s road fatalities so far since the start of the festive season on 1 December this year, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday.
Addressing a media briefing on the 2019/20 mid-festive season road safety statistics at the Beitbridge border post in the northern town of Musina in Limpopo Province, Mbalula said some 589 people have died on the country’s roads since the start of the festive season.
“I am pleased to report that as a result of efforts we have made to heighten law enforcement, the effective co-ordination of law enforcement operations by the Road Traffic Management Corporation and an improvement in responsible road usage, we have seen a significant decrease in fatal road traffic crashes so far this festive season,” he said.
Mbalula said the country’s nine provinces recorded a reduction in road deaths, with Gauteng Province reducing fatalities from 133 last year to 95 this year, while KwaZulu-Natal Province went down from 172 in 2018 to 135 this year.
The Western Cape Province went down from 85 fatalities to 54, while the Free State Province, which had 80 fatalities last year, has seen its figures reduced to 56 deaths.
Mpumalanga Province went from 83 to 40 deaths, the North West Province from 60 to 36, Limpopo from 94 to 73 and the Northern Cape from 29 to 16 deaths.
Mbalula said the majority of those who died were pedestrians at 39 percent, followed by vehicle passengers at 34 percent, drivers at 26 percent and cyclists at 1percent.
He added: “We will intensify our efforts on pedestrian and passenger fatalities by ramping up policing inside suburbs, townships and villages.
“Law enforcement operations focusing on drunken driving and the wearing of seat belts will also be increased.”
NM/as/APA