Motorists must obey rules of the road during Easter, warns minister
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has called on motorists to stick to the rules of the road over the Easter long weekend.
Traffic volumes are expected to increase over the next few days as people travel to their respective holiday destinations.
In Gauteng alone, over 40% of residents are expected to travel to and from Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.
The minister launched the 2024 Easter Road Safety Campaign in Mpumalanga on Wednesday.
Ahead of Easter, scores of South Africans are also set to travel to different destinations for the Human Rights Day weekend and school holidays.
Traffic volumes are expected to start picking up on Thursday morning, and will stay high until midnight.
On Friday, traffic volumes will start increasing early in the morning and will return to normal after 2 pm.
"Return traffic will commence with worshippers from Moria City and other places of worship on Sunday, 31 March. All other main routes are expected to be extremely busy throughout Monday, 1 April" said Chikunga.
Chikunga said the department has set a target to reduce road fatalities by 15% over this period.
Last year, over 252 fatalities were recorded - a 37% increase compared to the same period the previous year.
"Every province has been given a target based on the number of fatalities experienced last year. The province of Mpumalanga must reduce the fatalities from 20 to 17, Limpopo from 43 to 37, KwaZulu-Natal from 64 to 54, Gauteng from 47 to 40, Eastern Cape from 41 to 35, Free State from 21 to 18, Western Cape from 28 to 24, North West from 10 to 9, Northern Cape from 4 to 3.”
Chikunga warned officials will be out in full force on key routes in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.
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