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Transport Minister Barbara Creecy briefs the media.
According to the preliminary data of the 2025/26 Festive Season Road Safety Report, road fatalities increased in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, and the Western Cape.
Transport Minister, Barbara Creecy revealed this during a media briefing at the GCIS, Ronnie Mamoepa Centre in Pretoria.
According to the report, the Transport Department has recorded a 5% decrease in road fatalities during the festive season however, Creecy says the continuous loss of life is a cause for national shame.
“There was a notable increase in fatalities from the 15th to the 28th of December. These two weeks contributed more than 40% to crashes and fatalities. And this confirms that festive season crashes and fatalities increase once travellers reach their final destination and are engaged in festivities, rather than in the peak travelling period. The crashes involved collisions with pedestrians, single vehicle overturns and head on collisions.”
{LISTEN] Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says it is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and then drive. A total of 1 427 fatalities were recorded from 1 172 crashes this year #sabcnews #UpdateAtNoon pic.twitter.com/rRHNOnsOBo
— SABC News Radio (@SABCNews_Radio) January 15, 2026
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says there’s been a 5% reduction in road fatalities and crashes for the 2025 festive season, compared to the same period in the previous year.
A total of 1 427 fatalities were recorded from 1172 crashes. Creecy was delivering the 2025/26 Festive Season Road Safety Report in Pretoria.
“The data shows the 2025/26 festive season recorded the lowest number of crashes in five years and the same number of fatalities as the 2023/24 season. Five provinces reported reductions in fatalities. The highest percentage reduction was recorded in the Eastern Cape followed by the Free State. And I want to take this opportunity to congratulate those provinces for their extremely hard work which they undertook during the festive season period.”
Minister Barbara Creecy: I want to take this opportunity to thank our traffic officers at national, provincial and local government level, SAPS and emergency services for the sterling work you have done throughout the year which has resulted in this decrease in accidents.… pic.twitter.com/GPlEkYtyBn
— GP Roads and Transport (@GPDRT_) January 15, 2026
