The Eastern Cape has recorded a huge decline in the number of serious vehicle accidents and deaths on the roads since the festive season began on December 1.
Fatalities had plunged by 66 compared with the same period last year while the number of serious and deadly traffic accidents had dropped by 23%.
A total of 219 people died on Eastern Cape roads from December 1 until the morning of January 4 during the 2024 festive season, while this season the figure fell to 153.
A record number of motorists were also arrested in the province for drunk driving.
This festive season officially ends on Sunday, January 11.
Though final statistics are set to be released by transport minister Barbara Creecy later in January, Binqose said on Tuesday that the drastic drop in serious road crashes in the Eastern Cape was by far the biggest countrywide.
Binqose spoke to the Dispatch moments after officials in all provinces were briefed by the national government during a virtual meeting.
Eastern Cape law enforcement authorities have, since December 1, arrested more than 1,300 suspected drunk drivers on the province’s roads.
Many of those arrests took place in the OR Tambo and Amathole districts, while a significant number were carried out in Buffalo City.
Binqose commended law enforcement officers for their efforts in curbing the number of serious accidents and fatalities as well as the “exemplary” behaviour of the majority of motorists.
“While credit goes to our officers for enforcing the law, the greater degree of credit goes out to our motorists who [were] exemplary in their conduct, especially those operating within the public transport space.
“Public transport operators are game changers because the moment an accident involves a taxi or a bus, the numbers become huge.
“But those accidents were minimal, so we have to take off our hats to those operating in that sector,” Binqose said.
Asked what the authorities had done differently this festive season, he said sustained efforts to deal with drunk drivers had made a marked difference.
“One of the major triggers of road accidents has been drunk drivers and we were deliberate in going after them and ensuring that we eliminated them from our roads,” he said.
Law enforcement officers themselves were among the 1,304 people arrested for allegedly driving under the influence, Binqose said.
“We have arrested a variety of people, from prosecutors to even law enforcement officers such as police, teachers and, of course, ordinary folks.”
However, Binqose warned that the province was “not out of the woods yet”, noting that the week before schools reopened for the new academic year was critical.
Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana said that ambulances had been dispatched to four accidents involving taxis and a bus accident at Flagstaff on Tuesday afternoon.
“Our officials are still on the scene of that bus accident, which had been reported just before 3pm.
“At the moment, we are not sure if there are any fatalities or serious injuries,” Manana said.
A senior emergency medical services (EMS) official confirmed the decline in serious road accidents and fatalities.
The official, who cannot be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media, said provincial ambulance personnel had been summoned to fewer crashes this holiday season.
“The numbers were much lower compared to the past festive season …
“You would remember that [last year] we had a number of taxi accidents that each claimed over 10 lives at once, but we experienced none of those this season.
“The number of those who lost their lives has decreased drastically.”
Asked about traffic volumes in the province during this festive season, Binqose said: “Patterns were quite the same and there was nothing distinct when comparing figures to those from last year.”
He said the weeks before the public holiday on December 16 and Christmas Day had been the busiest.
The Bhisho legislature’s transport portfolio committee chair, ANC MPL Sindile Toni, welcomed the decline in fatalities and serious accidents as “great improvements”, which he attributed to the “dedication and hard work by department officials and proper oversight by their MEC [Xolile Nqatha]”.
EFF MPL Simthembile Madikizela said the party “welcomed the positive development and great news on the reduction of fatalities”.
“We remain mindful that much more still needs to be done to prevent further loss of life during this period.
“Every life matters … Greater emphasis must also be placed on the roadworthiness of vehicles,“ Madikizela said, adding that tighter monitoring and enforcement systems were needed to ensure all public transport vehicles were safe.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s consolidated festive season reports, a total of 1,560 people were killed on SA’s roads during the 2022/2023 festive season, declining slightly to 1,552 fatalities in 2023/2024.
In the 2024/2025 festive, 1,502 deaths arising from 1,234 fatal crashes were recorded.
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