CAPE TOWN, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- There have been 439 fatal crashes on South African roads since Dec. 1, which resulted in the deaths of 512 people, said Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy on Thursday.
Creecy, together with Deputy Minister of Transport Mkhuleko Hlengwa, released the mid-festive season preliminary road safety report during a media briefing at Touws River in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
The briefing came a few days after a fatal crash on the N9 road outside Graaff-Reinet, a town in the Eastern Cape Province, which claimed 15 lives.
Creecy said that since the festive season began on Dec. 1, a total of 439 fatal crashes have been recorded, a 3.1 percent increase compared to 426 fatal crashes recorded in the same period last year.
"These crashes have resulted in 512 people dying on the roads so far compared to 499 last year," she said. "This is a statistically significant 2.6 percent increase in fatalities and it threatens our expectations to have fewer fatalities over this season."
"The majority of those who died were pedestrians (45.6 percent), followed by passengers (26.8 percent), drivers (26.7 percent) and cyclists (0.74 percent)," Creecy noted, adding that the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Limpopo accounted for 70 percent of all fatalities during this period.
In response, she emphasized that the government will intensify its efforts to drastically reduce pedestrian and passenger fatalities by shifting focus from the main arterial routes to increased policing inside suburbs, townships and villages.
"Law enforcement operations focusing on drunken driving and the wearing of seatbelts will also be increased," said Creecy. "We will also move the focus from roadblocks to visible patrols on all routes including alternative or secondary routes."
