Deadly start to long weekend
Scores of people have died on the roads since the start of the long weekend.
At least 10 people have been killed in three separate car accidents in Mpumalanga over the last 24 hours.
The Mpumalanga Community Safety Department's Joseph Mabuza says: "In one accident, two motorists were killed in a hit-and-run on the R571 near Kahhoyi."
He says four people were killed in a collision on the R54 last night.
"Two sedans sideswiped and collided. Three people died on scene. The fourth person died later as a result of their injuries. Two others sustained serious injuries."
In KwaZulu Natal a seven-year-old girl is fighting for her life after a near drowning incident, Netcare911 says.
She had been found floating in a pool at a resort in Umhlanga at around 13:00.
Netcare911 spokesperson Chris Botha says: "A doctor that was on scene immediately started with CPR. On arrival, Netcare 911 paramedics placed the child on a ventilator and called for the Air Mercy Five helicopter to be activated as they managed to get the child's heart to start beating again."
The girl was airlifted to a specialised hospital for further treatment.
About 10 kilometres away from the resort and barely half an hour later, an adult male drowned at the Blue Lagoon Beach in Durban.
"Reports from the scene indicate two brothers from Pietermaritzburg went for a swim when one got into difficulty. Netcare 911 paramedics, their rescue unit and the Police Search and Rescue arrived at the scene and found that lifeguards had pulled the man out of the water. The man was declared dead at the scene," Botha confirms.
A family was killed while riding in a donkey cart in the Northern Cape last night.
"A mother, father and their twin six-year-old boys were riding in the donkey cart on the N12 near Kimberley when a bus hit them from behind," Botha says.
The donkey was also killed in the accident.
"The parents pulled over to the side of the road because a strap had come loose. The children were flung about 100m from the point of impact. Part of the donkey cart impaled the donkey."