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Eastern Cape premier, Oscar Mabuyane, has called for calm on the province's roads over the Christmas long weekend.
He was speaking at a traffic operation in the province today.
"We want to appeal to all the motorists to make sure that they obey the rule of the road," Mabuyane said, also appealing to pedestrians to do the same.
"We don't want to see the carnage we normally see during the festive season. There's a lot of traffic into the province, as you know many people are coming back home for holidays," he added.
The Premier's appeal comes a day after five people died in a fiery crash on the road between Kariega and Graaff-Reinet.
Read More: Five people burnt beyond recognition in R75 accident
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, noted that 719 people were killed on the country's roads in the first three weeks of December.
Addressing a media briefing on Friday, she said this was a 4.3% decline on the same period last year.
"Gauteng has recorded 187 fatalities which is a 23.8% increase compared to last year. KZN has recorded 135 fatalities which is a 6.3% decrease compared to last year. Limpopo has recorded 88 fatalities which is the same as the previous year.
"Mpumalanga has recorded 81 fatalities which is a 6.6% increase compared to last year. Western Cape has recorded 76 fatalities which is a 1.3% decrease compared to last year. Eastern Cape has recorded 59 fatalities which is a 41% decrease compared to last year.
"Free State has recorded 49 fatalities which is a 7.0% decrease compared to last year. North West has recorded 37 fatalities which is a 17.8% decrease compared to last year. Northern Cape has recorded 16 fatalities which is a 49.7% decrease compared to last year
Chikunga said the Eastern Cape is one of six provinces that will receive "focused attention this year with night-time deployment of traffic officers and road safety activations that are intended to improve pedestrian safety".
"Our interventions will be based on a six-point strategy that will guide all provinces in their operations this year. The strategy calls for interventions to deal with pedestrian safety, vehicle roadworthiness, public transport overloading, drunken driving, speeding, and execution of warrants," the Transport Minister said.
During her briefing, she also highlighted other statistics, including figures on drunken driving.
The highest alcohol content was recorded at Zwelitsha in the Eastern Cape where a motorist recorded a breath alcohol concentration of 1.97 milligrams per 1 000 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 0,24 milligrams per 1 000 millilitres of breath. pic.twitter.com/VY6MJAPpkM
— Department of Transport (@Dotransport) December 22, 2023
