A team from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) was dispatched on Monday to investigate what has been described as the Eastern Cape’s deadliest road accident this festive season. The tragic incident occurred on the N9 just outside Graaff-Reinet, where a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a Mazda CX5 resulted in the loss of 14 lives. The crash, initially reported to have claimed 13 lives, was later confirmed to have resulted in the death of a 14th person. This makes it the most devastating accident in the region this December, prompting officials to conduct a detailed reconstruction to understand the sequence of events leading to the tragedy.
The incident unfolded when the Mazda CX5, traveling from Middelburg towards Graaff-Reinet, collided with the Quantum minibus, which was en route to Middelburg from the Western Cape. Six occupants of the Mazda and eight passengers in the minibus lost their lives on the spot. Additionally, 11 others sustained varying degrees of injuries and were rushed to nearby medical facilities for treatment. Preliminary reports suggest that the cause of the crash remains unclear, with investigators working to piece together evidence from the scene. This fatal collision has raised serious concerns about road safety, especially during the peak holiday season.
In the wake of the accident, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and her deputy, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, extended their condolences to the grieving families and called for heightened awareness and caution on the roads. “The loss of life in this horrific crash is deeply saddening, and we urge all road users to exercise increased vigilance as they travel,” said Minister Creecy. This incident is part of a broader pattern of rising fatalities across the province, with multiple deadly accidents reported in the past week. The Eastern Cape has already witnessed significant carnage, including another head-on collision on the R61 near Bizana, which claimed three lives, and a crash near Butterworth last week that resulted in four fatalities.
The Eastern Cape Department of Transport has been scrambling to manage the growing risk of road accidents as traffic volumes increase ahead of the festive period. Unathi Binqose, spokesperson for the department, reported that several high-fatality crashes occurred over the weekend, underlining the urgent need for increased safety measures. Among the other serious accidents in the region was a head-on collision between a van and a sedan on the R61, and another crash on the N2 near Butterworth, where a young child lost their life. In both cases, a mix of human error and road conditions likely contributed to the tragic outcomes.
In response to the growing toll, the province has ramped up its law enforcement efforts. Binqose revealed that all available traffic officers have been deployed to high-risk areas, with a particular focus on major highways linking the Eastern Cape to neighboring provinces like the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng. The province has also recently trained 127 new traffic officers, who underwent intensive physical, psychological, and traffic law training. These officers are now on the front lines, ensuring higher visibility and reinforcing road safety efforts, particularly in known hotspots.
Across South Africa, the road safety situation remains grim. In the Western Cape, a horrific bus accident claimed the lives of eight people, including six children, when the vehicle overturned in Worcester. Similarly, in the Free State, 10 people died when a collision occurred between a Scania truck and a Toyota Quantum on the N1 highway. These incidents highlight the urgent need for comprehensive road safety campaigns and stricter enforcement, as the festive season continues to see an alarming increase in road traffic accidents across the country.
