GOITSEMANG TLHABYE
TRANSPORT Minister Joe Maswanganyi has applauded various departments for the decrease of road fatalities in seven provinces over the festive season.
Maswanganyi revealed the progress as he delivered the provincial festive season report in Hatfield, Pretoria this morning.
Through the use of campaigns channeled through social media platforms, Maswanganyi said the department had managed to surpass their initial target of reducing road fatalities by 10% and reached 11%.
The Western Cape and the North West however were the only provinces that recorded an increase in fatalities by 7% and 11% respectively.
Limpopo came out tops recording the highest reduction in fatalities, followed closely behind by the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
Statistics compiled compared periods between the 2016/2017 to 2017/2018, from December 1 to January 9.
Maswanganyi said despite the impressive stance, fatalities among pedestrians had still increased from 34% to 37%, while driver fatalities also went up from 23% to 27%.
However he also indicated that despite the increases there had been a decline in passenger fatalities from 41% to 35%.
Fatalities were said to be most prevalent in youthful drivers between the ages of 25 and 34, whereas drivers between 35 and 49 showed a decline.
"A significant decline was noted among youthful pedestrians but there was a disturbing increase among those aged 35 to 44," Maswanganyi said.
He added: "All the efforts that we put into promoting safe road usage have given us an improved picture during the recent festive season holiday period."