With over 13 million vehicles on South Africa’s roads and at least 3.5m of them commercial – taxis, buses and trucks – the country is facing a growing road safety crisis, worsened by failing infrastructure, limited enforcement and dangerous cost-cutting in a strained economy.According to Refilwe Mongale of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), data from the Natis registry as of December 2023 shows operator-type vehicles now make up 26% of the total vehicle population, with minibuses and taxis showing the fastest growth at 1.69% last year. “Vehicles across all categories are increasingly competing for limited road space, while South Africa’s tough economic climate is pushing many to cut corners, including on vehicle maintenance. We are seeing a high number of fatalities and injuries, made worse by a shortage of enforcement officers and stretched public resources,” she said.Mongale said crashes cost the country over 3% of its GDP, funds that could otherwise go towards development priorities. With this in mind, South Africa is committed to reducing road crashes, fatalities and injuries.“We have country objectives, and we have made certain pledges to the global community, such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization, that we need to reduce road crashes, with a reduction of 50% by 2030,” she said.South Africa has already missed the 2020 and 2023 deadlines. Key challenges in reaching the target set include enforcement capacity, road infrastructure constraints, behavioural compliance issues and post-crash emergency response gaps. LV
