By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Fourteen people died in a head-on collision between an SUV and a minibus taxi on the N9 outside Graaff-Reinet in the early hours of Monday.
The SUV, a Mazda CX5, with six occupants, and a fully loaded minibus taxi from the Western Cape towards to Eastern Cape, collided head-on.
Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said all six occupants in the SUV died on the scene, along with seven occupants from the minibus taxi.
The scene was still active on Monday morning as emergency rescue personnel continued to work to save as many lives as possible.
Meanwhile the minister of trasnport Barbara Creecy highlighted key focus areas for 2024, including the strategic deployment of law enforcement personnel and awareness initiatives to bolster the festive season campaign.
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.