Gauteng traffic authorities have reported a grim toll on the province’s roads, with 87 lives lost in 77 separate fatal crashes since the start of the festive season period on December 1.
The figures were confirmed by Gauteng Traffic Police spokesperson Sello Maremane in an update from the Phumulani Toll Plaza on the N1 north of Pretoria. While noting a slight decrease compared to the same period last year, Maremane stressed that the numbers remain alarmingly high.
“One death is just too many for us,” Maremane stated. “To have lost, from the 1st of December until the 13th of December, 87 people on our roads… it’s a worrisome number. Remember, we are still not yet into the Christmas days or the 31st of December.”
A significant portion of the fatalities—39 of the 87—were pedestrians. Maremane acknowledged this represents a decrease from last year’s pedestrian death count but emphasized that the figure is still unacceptably high.
The spokesperson outlined human behaviour as the core challenge, citing recent enforcement actions that included the arrest of 29 pedestrians for walking on the N14 freeway near Diepsloot. He detailed that common causes of fatal crashes include unsafe overtaking, speeding, and pedestrians jaywalking or hitchhiking on highways.
“In some situations, if a person goes at night, midnight, and they go and consume alcohol from there they start to jaywalk where we are not present, that’s why we are encountering problems,” Maremane explained.
He listed several key accident hotspot areas in the province, including:
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The Pretoria-Moloto road (R573)
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The N1 freeway
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The N12 towards Klerksdorp near Wolmaransstad
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The N4 from Pretoria towards Mpumalanga
With traffic volumes expected to peak significantly after 12:00 daily, authorities have intensified targeted enforcement operations. However, Maremane reinforced that ultimate responsibility lies with road users.
“We have come up with a number of enforcement operations… but we know it is not possible for us to be all over,” he said. “Our message is very clear: road safety begins with you. You’ve got to make sure that you are safe before you can even see a traffic law enforcement official.”
The public is urged to exercise extreme caution, adhere to traffic rules, and avoid dangerous behaviours such as speeding, drunk driving, and illegal pedestrian activity on freeways as the festive travel season continues.