The national Department of Transport says that 172 more people died on South African roads in January this year than a year ago.

Minister Fikile Mbalula says there were 637 fatal accidents on the country’s roads last month in which 774 people died.

That is 153 more accidents and 172 deaths than what was reported in January 2021.

Mbalula says the increase in accidents and deaths can be attributed to the fact that the country was still under level 3 of lockdown in January of 2021.

184 of the 637 fatal accidents, and 363 of the 774 deaths in January were reported as part of the festive season’s statistics.