Early indications are this could be a good Easter weekend on the roads, with KwaZulu-Natal having had zero fatalities by on Saturday.
Earlier this week, the Road Transport Management Corporation (RTMC) said the road death toll was one of the lowest in five years.
The number of deaths by Friday night was 62 percent lower than at the same stage last year, the RTMC said.
The only road deaths reported to it since the start of the weekend had been those of:
- Two people, one a 3-year-old boy, in a head-on collision in which two people were injured in Barry Hertzog Avenue, Milpark, Joburg, on Friday night.
- Six people, three of them children, when a SUV rolled and left the R36, also injuring two people, near Mooketsi in Limpopo on Friday night.
- A 23-year-old man whose vehicle smashed into a tree on Springbok Road in Meyerton, Gauteng, on Friday morning.
- Two men in a collision between a car and a minibus taxi on the N2 near Butterworth, Eastern Cape, on Friday.
Spokesman Simon Zwane said that in the week leading up to Good Friday, the RTMC had recorded 45 deaths across the country, down from 120 in the same period last year.
Speeding and alcohol use by drivers remained a big challenge. More than 688 drivers were arrested in Joburg for drunken driving.
“We expect traffic volumes to increase on Monday when motorists return from their destinations,” Zwane said.
Nabeelah Shaikh reports that law enforcement agencies were out in force on KwaZulu-Natal’s roads. There were no reports of any fatalities by on Saturday.
With more than 2 000 cars an hour entering KwaZulu-Natal, the N3 to Durban was the busiest highway in the country, the RTMC said.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has deployed two hi-tech helicopters to assist at accident scenes.
The helicopters are equipped with night vision goggles.
“During this Easter holiday we want to drastically cut deaths to a minimum,” said KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo.
“We have also deployed emergency medical teams in (accident black spots) like Amajuba Pass, Ndundulu and Kokstad.”
The province's Department of Transport said 114 drivers had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
KwaZulu-Natal's MEC for Transport, Willies Mchunu, said the record number of arrests would send a strong message that the government was serious about reducing the number of road accidents.
“Since last week we have intensified visibility on the road and police have done remarkable work on the ground,” he said.
“The arrests of 114 motorists since last week is an indication that those who violate the law will not be tolerated. We appeal to all churchgoers to protest about overloading and to prioritise safety.”
Mchunu said more than three drivers had been caught since last week driving at speeds of more than 200km/h, south of Durban.
Last year, there were 55 deaths on KwaZulu-Natal roads over Easter - the highest number in the country.
Paramedic services ER24 and Rescue Care confirmed there had been no major accidents in KwaZulu-Natal by Saturday morning.
Sunday Independent