1 427 people killed on South Africa’s roads during festive season

Mapaballo Borotho

M1 highway in Booysens closed after bus collision

The Department of Transport has reported a five percent reduction in festive season road crashes and fatalities for 2025/26.
A total of 1 427 people were killed in 1 172 accidents, marking the lowest number of crashes in five years.
Speeding and drunk driving remain the main contributors to road deaths, with pedestrian fatalities highest in major metros.

As the country moves into the middle of the first month of the year, the Department of Transport has concluded its report on road accidents and fatalities recorded during the 2025/26 festive season.

Preliminary data shows a five percent reduction in both road crashes and fatalities compared to the same period in 2024.

Despite the decline, a total of 1 427 people lost their lives in 1 172 road accidents during the festive season.

The 2025/26 festive period recorded the lowest number of crashes in five years and the same number of fatalities as the 2023/24 festive season. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy presented the figures in Pretoria on Thursday.

Five provinces recorded reductions in fatalities, with the Eastern Cape showing the highest percentage decrease, followed by the Free State. However, Gauteng, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and the Northern Cape recorded increases in road deaths.

Creecy said a significant spike in crashes and fatalities was seen between 15 and 28 December.

“These two weeks contributed more than 40 percent of crashes and fatalities. This reaffirms that festive season crashes and deaths increase once travellers have reached their destinations and are engaging in festivities, rather than during peak travel periods,” she said.

She added that many crashes occurred over weekends between 19:00 and 21:00, and between midnight and 01:00. These included pedestrian collisions, hit-and-run incidents, single-vehicle overturns and head-on collisions.

The highest number of pedestrian fatalities was recorded in the City of Cape Town, the City of Johannesburg, eThekwini, Nkangala District and the City of Tshwane.

Small motor vehicles accounted for 55 percent of crashes, followed by light delivery vehicles at 20 percent.

Minibus taxis and trucks were involved in seven percent and six percent of crashes, respectively.

Speeding and drunk driving remain the leading causes of road accidents in South Africa.