Polokwane, Limpopo - More than 1000 people have died on South African roads since 1 December.
National transport minister Dipuo Peters said on Sunday authorities were still collecting full information nationwide and would release the specific figure in due time. Peters told reporters in Polokwane the figures would detail the ages of those who died on the roads since the beginning of the holiday season.
"I cannot give you the full figure right now but it's more than a thousand of people who perished on our roads," she said. "We are going to be collating the full information."
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Authorities launched a drive-safely campaign before and during the holidays in the hope of bringing down the high number of road fatalities - at least lower than that of last year. 1118 fatal crashes were recorded between 1 December 2014 and 5 January 2015, causing 1368 fatalities.
Peters said the 2015/2016is holiday season was marked by the high number of young people who were victims of the road carnage, particularly those under 20 years of age. Traffic authorities blamed speeding, fatigue and driving under the influence of alcohol for most of the crashes
Also on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma said the road carnage indicated that more still needed to be done to promote road safety and to get people to respect the rules of the road.
"Traffic authorities will not win this battle alone," Zuma said. "All road users must cooperate to make our roads safer."
TRAFFIC VOLUMES
Traffic volumes across on major roads across the country picked up on Sunday as many holidaymakers began driving home. Most people were expected to return to work on Monday following the festive season break.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation said that by 3pm on Sunday there were 2340 vehicles per hour passing through the Carousel plaza and 2300 vehicles per hour passing through the Pumulani plaza from the north into Gauteng, while 690 cars per hour were passing southwards through the Carousel plaza and 735 leaving Gauteng via the Pumulani plaza.
There were 2100 cars per hour going north through the Mooi plaza on the KwaZulu-Natal route, compared to 1000 going south, while the Tugela plaza saw traffic volumes of 1700 going north and 550 going south.
Wilge plaza saw 1840 vehicles per hour travelling north and 330 travelling south, while De Hoek plaza had 1880 cars travelling north and 400 travelling south.
The RTMC said it would release the festive season accident statistics only at the end of January, once they had been verified - but the carnage on South African roads continued through the weekend.
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said a couple sustained critical injuries and their son moderate injuries when their car veered off the road and rolled several times on the Ventersdorp Road outside Potchefstroom in North West. Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate the woman from the car.
Botha said that on Saturday a passenger bus overturned 25km from Bloemfontein on the N6, leaving one passenger with critical injuries and six people seriously injured. Seventeen other people escaped with minor injuries.
‘SERIOUS WHIPLASH’
On New Year's Eve, the 40-year-old driver of a Toyota Corolla was killed and an Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officer "suffered serious whiplash" after the driver of a BMW side-swiped a Toyota Corolla and hit an EMPD freeway patrol vehicle in the emergency lane while allegedly fleeing from EMPD officers.
EMPD spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilfred Kgasago said the BMW driver was apparently fleeing from officers who had tried to stop him for speeding. He had allegedly been driving at 158km/h on the N3 southbound between the Grey Avenue and Heidelberg turnoffs.
The 21-year-old man was arrested and charged for failing to stop at the instruction of a metro police officer, culpable homicide as well as reckless and negligent driving. In addition, he was fined R2000 for clocking 158km/h in a 120km/h zone. He was expected to appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Monday.
ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said one person was killed and a six-year-old had to be airlifted to hospital following a collision on Saturday between a bus and a car on the Golden Highway, south of Johannesburg. Three other adults were also injured, one of them critically, he said.
Johannesburg Metro Police spokesman Wayne Minnaar said at least 46 people arrested for drunk driving and speeding were expected to appear in various courts on Monday, including 12 who were nabbed for speeding on New Year's Day.
"The highest speedster was the driver of a BMW M4, who clocked 249km/h along the N1 highway in Midrand," he said.
A further 11 were arrested for speeding along the Golden Highway on Sunday, he said, while at least 23 drunk drivers were nabbed on Saturday and Sunday as New Year festivities continued.
CAPE DRIVERS 'VERY PROBLEMATIC'
Western Cape provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said many people were heading back from their holidays and said December had been "very problematic" in terms of road deaths in the province.
"Most were as a result of human behaviour and people taking chances such as overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic," he said. "Many of the accidents were head-on-collisions and could have been prevented if people stayed on their side of road."
He added that alcohol also played a role in the crashes on the province's roads.
"Luckily we had many road blocks that were focused on drunk driving and we took drunk drivers off the roads and they were arrested.
"Alcohol was a problem but not such a big problem. The big problem we had was human behaviour."
Five people died over the New Year's weekend in the Western Cape.
Provincial department of transport and public works spokesman Byron la Hoe said on Monday: "Three drivers, one pedestrian, and a cyclist died over the weekend on Western Cape roads.”
In Cape Town, a driver was killed in Tokai and a pedestrian in Mitchells Plain. Another driver was killed in Botrivier, a cyclist in Calitzdorp and a driver in Riversdale.
ALCOHOL BLITZES
Provincial traffic services also spent the weekend conducting “alcohol blitzes” checking 2854 vehicles at 20 roadblocks across the province.
"Alcohol breath-testing was carried out on 1135 drivers and 30 were arrested," said La Hoe.
The highest reading was recorded in Somerset West, four times the legal limit. 3317 vehicles were screened for speeding, with 410 speeding offences recorded.
Fines totalling R370 650 were issued for various traffic offences, and a further seven arrests were reported across the province, two of which were of drunk pedestrians in Vredendal.
Meanwhile a 37-year-old man is set to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court after being caught driving on the wrong side of the road on the N2 on Sunday.
City of Cape Town traffic spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said officers of the Highway Ghost Squad apprehended the driver at the Liesbeek Parkway off ramp.
"The officers approached the driver and asked him for his driving licence and he said he forgot it at home. It turned out that he was giving the officers false information."
At the police station it was discovered that he was out on parole for armed robbery and had outstanding charges of assault, dealing and possession of drugs, reckless and negligent driving and theft of a motor vehicle. He was charged with giving false information, resisting arrest, escaping from custody and assault.
KWAZULU-NATAL SEES DECLINE IN ROAD DEATHS
The KwaZulu-Natal department of transport is cautiously optimistic that the death rate for this year's festive season on the road has declined.
In the figures released on Sunday, the death toll had been recorded at a little more than 200, although that still had to be verified by police and the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
Zinhle Mngomezulu of the Road Traffic Inspectorate said: "Our systems are still updating, but the death toll so far is lower than last year and we have also recorded a reduction of 13 percent in road crashes."
She said by Sunday 2200 vehicles an hour were being recorded leaving the province, and about 1017 cars an hour were returning to the province.
Transport, community safety and liaison MEC Willies Mchunu called for those on the road to remain vigilant and said law enforcement officials would still be keeping an eye on the road until schools reopened next week.
KwaZulu-Natal had intensified its road safety initiatives this festive season with more than 20 000 law enforcement officials deployed across the province.
Mchunu said: "We remain concerned that more than 200 people died on our roads during this period. We are working with other agencies, including the SAPS and RTMC, to verify the figures. However, the analysis of the preliminary figures indicates a decrease.
"As visitors and holidaymakers are now leaving the province, we urge them to continue driving cautiously till they reach their destinations. Our operations will continue as traffic officials remain on high alert."
Mchunu commended the law enforcement agencies for arresting more than 441 drivers for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
More than 208 000 vehicles were stopped and checked across the province during the festive season - with more than 3800 people arrested for driving without driving licences.
More than 275 public transport vehicles were impounded.