Easter 2025 Road Safety Report: South Sees Drop in Crashes and Fatalities

Minister Creecy emphasized that almost all provinces contributed to these improved figures, with the exception of the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

South Africa's road safety efforts during the 2025 Easter weekend have shown historic improvement, with Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announcing a record decline in both road crashes and fatalities—the lowest in three years. Addressing the media in Pretoria on Tuesday, Creecy praised the intensified law enforcement campaigns, early public education, and strengthened partnerships with civil society for this notable achievement.

Significant Reduction in Crashes and Fatalities

The Easter Weekend Road Safety Report revealed that crashes nationwide fell dramatically from 209 incidents in 2024 to 141 in 2025, marking a 32.5% reduction compared to the previous year. Fatalities followed an even sharper decline, dropping from 307 deaths in 2024 to 167 deaths this year—a 45.6% decrease.

Minister Creecy emphasized that almost all provinces contributed to these improved figures, with the exception of the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. In these provinces, road crashes and fatalities either remained stagnant or unfortunately increased. Mpumalanga, in particular, recorded a 27.3% rise in fatalities, growing from 22 deaths in 2024 to 28 deaths this Easter.

Strong Enforcement and Early Campaigns Drive Success

The 2025 Easter Season Road Safety "Arrive Alive" campaign, launched on 20 March 2025 and running until 2 May 2025, played a critical role in these outcomes. Under the campaign theme, "It Begins with Me", government agencies focused heavily on proactive communication, education, and rigorous law enforcement activities.

“Our statistics tell us that there is a clear benefit to starting awareness campaigns earlier, before the travel rush begins,” Creecy stated. “The involvement of civil society organizations alongside national, provincial, and municipal law enforcement agencies was pivotal in changing road user behavior.”

According to the Minister, the concerted efforts included:

• Increased roadblocks and traffic checks,

• Deployment of additional officers on national and provincial routes,

• Coordination between multiple levels of government,

• Community-level engagement to raise awareness of road safety.

Long-Term Trends Show Sustained Improvement

The Easter weekend figures are not an isolated success but reflect a broader, positive trend observed over the first quarter of 2025. Between January and March:

• Road fatalities decreased by 16%,

• Total road crashes decreased by 13%,

• Crashes dropped across eight provinces, with Mpumalanga recording no change,

• Fatalities fell in seven provinces, while Free State reported a 5% increase and Mpumalanga a 1% increase.

These statistics show a consistent movement toward safer roads and strengthen the government’s confidence in achieving its goal to halve crashes and fatalities by 2029.

The Growing Concern: Pedestrian Fatalities

Despite these overall gains, the Minister voiced serious concern over the persistent high number of pedestrian fatalities, which now account for 47%—nearly half—of all road deaths.

“This shocking reality tells us that our safety messages are still not reaching pedestrians effectively,” Creecy warned. “We must intensify local campaigns where pedestrian accidents are most frequent and tailor our strategies to better educate and protect this vulnerable group.”

Sustaining the Gains

Minister Creecy concluded by highlighting the need for continuous vigilance and collaboration to maintain and improve on these achievements beyond festive seasons and long weekends.

“Our challenge is to sustain this achievement daily, weekly, and monthly. With the right combination of law enforcement, public awareness, and civil society engagement, we now believe it is entirely possible to meet our ambitious target by 2029.”

The Minister also called on every road user to take personal responsibility, in line with the campaign’s theme, to ensure that the progress seen during the Easter period becomes the norm throughout the year.