Two motor vehicle collisions on Monday brought the long weekend’s road accident death toll to 28 in the Eastern Cape.
A suspected tyre burst left three people dead and 18 others injured – including five children – when a minibus taxi carrying 21 passengers rolled down an embankment between Cradock and Tarkastad on Monday morning.
Eastern Cape traffic deputy director Charles Bramwell said the accident happened on the R61 at about 6.10am while the minibus was travelling to Mthatha.
“The vehicle left the road, went through a steel barrier and [rolled about 20m] down a small embankment,” he said.
Two women and a man died on impact, while the other 18 people were seriously injured.
Bramwell said three passengers, including two children, had been critically injured and airlifted to Cradock Hospital.
One of the children has since been diverted to Port Elizabeth’s Livingstone Hospital for emergency treatment.
Eastern Cape transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said in most cases drivers who were overloading were either fined or, in extreme cases, arrested.
Later on Monday, six people died in a head-on collision on the R61 road near Mount Nicholas in Libode when a sedan with seven occupants collided with a fully-loaded minibus taxi that was travelling from Mthatha.
Six occupants of the sedan, carrying one adult and six children, were declared dead on the scene.
A total of 14 people from the taxi sustained injuries and were taken to the St Barnabas Hospital.
Transport, safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana said officials were disturbed by the death toll and appealed to motorists to be extra cautious.
“We call on all road users, motorists, passengers and pedestrians alike, to get on board and play their part in road safety.”
Tikana said in an attempt to reduce the deaths, the department had heeded a call by religious leaders for an interfaith cleansing ceremony aimed at calling for a divine intervention to curb fatalities on Eastern Cape roads.
The ceremony will take place at 9am on the N6 near Komani (Queenstown) on Tuesday.
All the road-related deaths are being investigated by police.