Pedestrian fatalities a concern, says Mbalula
TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula has indicated a decline in the number of road accidents during the Easter period, but warned that the number of crashes involving pedestrians remained a concern.
Mbalula released Easter fatality numbers yesterday. The figures show a national crash count of 189, with 235 deaths recorded.
The minister said his biggest concern about the Easter weekend accidents was an increase of 5% in crashes involving pedestrians.
This year’s statistics were compared with 2019.
Most of the pedestrian crashes took place between midnight and 2am.
“We have observed that 6% of pedestrian crashes happened between midnight and 2 in the morning, when people were moving around in violation of lockdown curfew,” Mbalula said.
He said the cause of accidents involving pedestrians was mainly due to jay-walking and drinking.
Travel recorded on major roads was high despite the lack of religious pilgrimage this year, Mbalula said.
He said compared with 2019, where the long weekend figures were 193 crashes and 260 deaths, in 2021 the figures reduced slightly to 189 crashes and 235 deaths.
● KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest figures with 42 crashes and 54 fatalities.
● Gauteng recorded 30 crashes and 36 fatalities
● Eastern Cape had 22 crashes and 27 fatalities
● Free State had eight crashes and 13 fatalities
● Northern Cape recorded six crashes and seven fatalities
● North West had 15 crashes and 20 deaths
● Western Cape had 24 crashes and 26 fatalities
● Mpumalanga recorded 15 crashes and 18 fatalities
The minister said the decline could be attributed to increased work from law enforcement agencies. He said this was another reason measures such as body cameras would be introduced to help keep roads safe.
Mbalula said 336 roadblocks were conducted across the country, 32 000 fines were issued, 883 vehicles discontinued, 178 000 vehicles stopped and 782 cars impounded.
A total of 483 drivers were arrested for drunk driving and more than 112 people were arrested for speeding, with 28 arrested for reckless driving. A SAPS officer and traffic cop were arrested for bribery and corruption.
“We are still a long way from where we want to be. We must not claim easy victories,” Mbalula said.
The busiest national road was the N1 from Gauteng through the Free State to the Western Cape, which recorded 64 001 vehicles, while 14 864 vehicles were recorded on the N3 in KZN.