The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) will this week continue its major operations to prevent more road carnage following a 16% spike in deaths announced by Transport Minister Blade Nzimande for the December holiday period compared with figures for the previous year.
Provisional figures announced by the minister last month showed that 767 people had died on the roads since the start of the holidays - a 16% rise - with speeding and drunk driving being flagged as the major causes.
Police Minister Bheki Cele also identified what he said was the harmful abuse of alcohol, which led to heinous crimes being committed.
“The figures we get on the deaths on the road are also associated with alcohol. The figures we get on (drowning) are also associated (with alcohol). The figures we get on the abuse of women and children are also associated with alcohol. It is a source of evil and a source of crime,” Cele emphasised.