Last year’s festive season will go down as one of the least deadly in the past five years, as data points towards a reduction in both crashes and road deaths during the period.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced the preliminary results of the 2025/26 Festive Season Road Safety Campaign, as well as the total road safety outcomes for 2025.
She said the data shows that the recently concluded festive season recorded the lowest number of crashes in five years, as well as the same amount of fatalities as the 2023/24 festive period.
“Preliminary data indicate a 5% reduction in both fatalities and crashes for this year’s festive season, compared to the same period in the previous year,” the minister announced.
A total of 1,427 fatalities from 1,172 crashes were recorded during the period.
Five provinces recorded reductions in fatalities, while Gauteng, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape recorded an increase.
The deadliest period of the festive season was the two-week stretch from 15 to 28 December. Over 40% of crashes and fatalities took place during this period.
According to the minister, this reconfirms that festive season crashes increase once travellers have reached their destinations and start to engage in festivities.
“Many of the crashes happened over the weekend between 19:00 and 21:00 and between midnight and 01:00,” Minister Creecy stated.
“They involved collision with pedestrians, hit and run, single vehicle overturns and head-on collisions”
Half of all road deaths involve pedestrians, with the highest number of pedestrian fatalities reported in the City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg, eThekwini, Nkangala District and the City of Tshwane.
Passenger vehicles were the largest contributor to all accidents, accounting for 55% of all crashes. Accidents involving delivery vehicles, which include bakkies, made up 20% of all incidents.
Minibuses accounted for only 7% of vehicles involved in collisions, while heavy trucks made up 6% of the figures.
Law enforcement operations over the festive season saw officers conduct 1,632 roadblocks, checking 1.8 million vehicles.
During these operations, more than 450,000 traffic fines were issued, and 525 drivers were arrested for excessive speeding. Roadblocks also targeted vehicle roadworthiness, driver fitness, and licensing.
“A total of 173,695 drivers were tested for driving under the influence of alcohol and 8,561 of these tested positive, a 144% increase on the same period last year,” the minister announced.
The highest alcohol reading recorded was taken in KwaZulu-Natal, where a motorist recorded breath alcohol content fourteen times the legal limit.
A driver arrested in the Northern Cape was recorded travelling at 222km/h in a 120km/h zone, and 89 motorists were arrested for attempting to bribe traffic officials.
The bigger picture
Not only did the Transport Department record a decrease in festive season incidents and fatalities, but also in the overall annual statistics.
Preliminary data shows the number of road collisions and deaths for the entirety of 2025 is the lowest in five years.
“A total of 11,418 fatalities were recorded from 9,674 crashes in 2025, compared to 12,581 fatalities from 10,633 crashes in 2021,” the minister announced.
Crashes in 2025 decreased by 6.4% compared to 2024, and fatalities decreased by 6.2% in the same period.
Minister Creecy said these numbers show it is possible to reduce road deaths, as her department aims to reduce road accidents and fatalities by half by 2030.
“In the coming year, we will once again work with provinces and municipalities to improve consistent traffic law enforcement on our roads, particularly on weekends and public holidays,” she announced.
“We will also increase our education and enforcement work targeting pedestrians. In towns, cities and rural areas, half of all road deaths are men, women, and children walking alongside or crossing roads.”
She also stated that road deaths are not comparable to those of old age, saying that there is nothing “inevitable or unavoidable” about it.
“Analysis of reported crashes throughout the year confirms that human behaviour and particularly reckless driver behaviour remains the leading cause of road trauma.”
This includes behaviours such as speeding and drunk-driving. The latter drew the focus of the minister, who called for an end to all drinking and driving.
“Our driving and drinking policy was formulated almost 30 years ago. In today’s South Africa it is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and then drive. I have never understood this,” she said.
“The time has come for us to amend the law so we have a clear-cut, easy-to-understand and unambiguous policy that says drinking and driving is not allowed.”
The minister has called for a law that allows drivers to drink a certain amount to be scrapped, and announced her intention to amend section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act.
“If nothing else, we owe this to the memory of the many fellow South Africans who have lost their lives on our roads,” she concluded.
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