The festive season got off to a deadly start on the roads this weekend, with 26 people killed in three accidents on Saturday.
Rain caused poor driving conditions in some provinces as streams of vehicles headed for holiday destinations.
Free State transport MEC William Bulwane said 14 people died and three were injured when a Toyota Quantum and a Volkswagen Crafter collided on the R57 between Reitz and Petrus Steyn early on Saturday.
Bulwane said 13 people died at the scene and another in hospital.
Seven men were killed instantly when a bakkie overturned on the R573 between Kwaggafontein and Moteti in Mpumalanga at about 5am.
Another died on the way to hospital while a ninth victim died in hospital, said Moeti Mmusi, spokesperson for the Mpumalanga department of community safety, security & liaison.
Twenty people, including the driver, were injured and were being treated at the KwaMhlanga and Philadelphia hospitals, Mmusi said.
“It is believed that the driver of the vehicle may have lost control and the vehicle veered off the road before crashing on the side. Overloading is one of the things that the probe [into the accident] will look into.”
On Saturday afternoon, three people died in a head-on collision between a Hyundai and a Nissan X-Trail on the R53, 10km from Potchefstroom, ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell said. Three others were injured.
In Johannesburg, metro police arrested 87 people for drunk driving on Thursday and Friday.
Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), said: “A taxi was impounded from Glenvista by JMPD on Thursday for being unroadworthy. The steering column was tied together with masking tape, the emergency brake was defective, there were no internal door panels, there was no ignition key, the front windscreen had more than 50% cracks, and it was last licensed in 2013.”
In eThekwini, metro police spokesperson Parboo Sewpersad said officers were called out on Saturday as bathers were not complying with lifeguards at some beaches.
“We have noticed diehard bathers are still bathing way after the beaches are closed in the evening after the lifeguards are gone. There have been some drownings on the beaches due to non-compliance with the lifeguards.”
Sewpersad said there had been a number of deaths on the roads in the Durban area, with at least 60 accidents due to heavy rain on Friday night.
Cape Town councillor JP Smith, responsible for safety and security, said the city had recorded fewer than usual drunk driving cases.
“There are significantly reduced drunk driving arrests,” said Smith. “Either people are suddenly well behaved, which is exceedingly implausible, or people are too broke. But something is driving it.”
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