S. Africa: Road mishaps kill over 750 in past 18 days

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - A total of 767 people were killed in road accidents across South Africa since the start of the festive season in December, the country’s transport minister said on Thursday.

“It is sad to note that we have witnessed a period of unparalleled mixture of agony, misery and pain on our roads from December 1 to 18 this year,” Blade Nzimande told reporters in the capital Pretoria while releasing the mid-festive season road accident statistics.

Nzimande said a total number of 34 minibus passenger vehicles and 44 trucks were involved in deadly accidents.

“What stands out quite glaringly is that many vehicles involved in fatal crashes had a high number of occupants,” he said.

The transport minister said light motor vehicles contributed 47 percent of the total crashes, followed by light delivery vehicles at 21 percent, minibus passenger vehicles at 7 percent and trucks at 5 percent.

The minister said the most prevalent road violations responsible for the accidents include, excessive speeding, drunk driving and fatigue, among others.

Thousands of people are killed in road accidents every festive season in South Africa. A total of 14,050 fatalities were recorded in the country in 2017.

Thousands of South Africans usually drive out of major cities to various holiday destinations, including resort beaches or rural homes for Christmas and year-end parties.

The minister said the preliminary report for the mid-festive season accidents show that road fatalities have increased in all provinces except in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria.