Transport minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday said Gauteng is the only province that saw an increase in the number of road fatalities during the 2022 festive season.
He noted that road fatalities during the abovementioned period declined in eight provinces except Gauteng.
South Africa’s economic hub recorded a 5.5% increase accounting for 290 more deaths than in the previous festive period.
This comes as 1,451 people lost their lives on South Africa’s roads between 1 December 2022 and 11 January 2023.
He welcomed the overall significant reduction in the number of deadly crashes on the roads which saw a 13.9% decline compared to the previous year.
Mbalula released the road death statistics at the N1 Grasmere toll.
Providing a provincial breakdown of the road fatalities Mbalula said the Western Cape dropped by 36.7% followed by Mpumalanga which saw a 23.8% decline.
“We must draw lessons from provinces that achieved a reduction of more than 20% and ensure that the best practice model is replicated in all provinces. We are concerned about the fatalities in Gauteng, and we need to trigger extraordinary intervention to reverse this pattern.”
Despite calls for motorists to respect the rules of the road Mbalula said pedestrians account for 54% of Gauteng road fatalities.
-EWN
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