Festive season road deaths drop 5% to lowest level in five years

South Africa recorded a modest but notable improvement in road safety during the 2025/26 festive season, with the Department of Transport confirming a five percent decline in both crashes and fatalities compared to the previous year.

According to the department’s final report, 1 427 people lost their lives in 1 172 road accidents over the festive period, marking the lowest number of crashes recorded in the past five years.

The figures were presented by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy in Pretoria on Thursday.

While the overall numbers showed progress, Creecy cautioned that the death toll remains unacceptably high.

She noted that the 2025/26 festive season recorded the same number of fatalities as the 2023/24 period, underscoring the need for continued interventions.

Five provinces reported a reduction in road deaths, with the Eastern Cape leading in percentage decline, followed by the Free State.

However, Gauteng, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and the Northern Cape saw an increase in fatalities, offsetting gains made elsewhere.

Creecy highlighted a worrying concentration of crashes in the latter half of 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.

The report shows that many fatal incidents occurred over weekends, particularly between 19:00 and 21:00, and again from midnight to 01:00.

Common crash types included pedestrian knockdowns, hit-and-run cases, single-vehicle rollovers, and head-on collisions.

Pedestrians were among the most affected road users, with the highest number of fatalities recorded in major metros including the City of Cape Town, the City of Johannesburg, eThekwini, Nkangala District, and the City of Tshwane.

In terms of vehicle involvement, 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.

Despite the overall reduction, the department reiterated that speeding and drunk driving remain the leading contributors to road deaths in South Africa, warning that sustained behavioural change is critical to further reducing fatalities in future festive seasons.