Dangerous bitumen-grade conditions and reckless driving, to name just a few of South Africa’s road safety failings, have already claimed 10 154 lives in 2024, Department of Transport (DoT) minister Barbara Creecy has said.
Creecy was speaking on Sunday during the launch of the DoT’s festive season road safety campaign, which this December-January carries the slogan: “Every Day Without a Road Death – South Africa 2024”.
The minister highlighted key focus areas for 2024, including the strategic deployment of law enforcement personnel and awareness initiatives to bolster the campaign.
“We have 800 national traffic officers and are deploying them to provincial hotspot areas,” Creecy said.
“We are also going to be conducting a number of routine operations.
"The high incidence of road crashes and their associated consequences significantly impact South African society. This impact is measured in terms of lost human lives, pain, grief, and suffering, and comes at a considerable cost to the economy."
Varied research points to South Africa's road safety situation being among the worst in the world, characterised by alarmingly high fatality rates.
According to a study by “Compare the Market Australia”, South Africa has the highest number of fatal accidents at 44.8 per 100 000 people, significantly exceeding the rates of countries known for their dangerous roads, such as India and Brazil.
In 2022 alone, there were 12 436 fatalities on South African roads, with pedestrian deaths accounting for a substantial portion of these incidents.
Only through continued efforts can the peak-period road fatality figure over December and January be decreased even more.
Last year, 1 427 people died in road accidents over the festive season, representing a slight decrease of 1.7% compared to the previous year's fatalities for the same period, which numbered 1 448.
