Road fatalities drop 5% during 2025/26 festive season

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has announced a 5% reduction in both road fatalities and crashes during the 2025/26 festive season, compared to the same period last year.

Creecy released the preliminary 2025/26 Festive Season Road Safety Campaign statistics during a media briefing on Thursday morning. According to the data, a total of 1 427 fatalities were recorded from 1 172 crashes over the festive period.

The minister noted that this was the lowest number of crashes recorded during a festive season in the past five years, while fatalities matched those reported in the 2023/24 festive season.

Five provinces recorded reductions in road fatalities, with the Eastern Cape showing the highest percentage decrease, followed by the Free State. However, increases were reported in Gauteng, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.

Creecy highlighted a concerning spike in crashes and fatalities between 15 and 28 December, which accounted for more than 40% of all incidents.

“This re-confirms that festive season crashes and fatalities increase once travellers have reached their destinations and are engaging in festivities rather than during the peak travel periods.” added Creecy

Most crashes occurred over weekends, particularly between 19:00 and 21:00, and between midnight and 01:00. Common crash types included collisions with pedestrians, hit-and-run incidents, single-vehicle overturns and head-on collisions.

The highest number of pedestrian fatalities was recorded in the City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg, eThekwini, Nkangala District and the City of Tshwane.

Small motor cars were involved in 55% of crashes, followed by light delivery vehicles at 20%. Minibus taxis and trucks accounted for 7% and 6% respectively.

During the festive season, law enforcement agencies conducted 1 632 roadblocks, stopping and checking 1.8 million vehicles. More than 450 000 traffic fines were issued, while 525 motorists were arrested for excessive speeding. Over 173 000 drivers were tested for alcohol, with 8 561 testing positive, Creecy says that’s a 144% increase compared to last year.

Creecy added that preliminary annual data for 2025 also show a downward trend, with road crashes and fatalities at their lowest levels in five years.

“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.”