WeeklySA_AdminRoad: A total 342 048 minibuses, buses and trucks on South Africa’s roads are not roadworthy
By Monk Nkomo
The Department of Transport will crack down on drunken driving and immediately impound unroadworthy vehicles amid reports that South Africa’s NATIS system has revealed that 342 048 vehicles, mostly minibuses, buses and trucks were not roadworthy.
Speaking at the launch of the 2026 Easter Road Safety Campaign, Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, also announced that 338 659 professional driving permits had expired.
‘’We are engaging with the taxi and bus industries to address these worrying figures and ensure vehicle roadworthiness. Vehicles found with defective brakes, smooth tyres or steering faults will be impounded immediately to protects passengers.’’
Creecy also announced that they were intensifying their focus on drunken driving and pursuing legislative amendments to Section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act regarding the limit of alcohol drivers should consume in an effort to tighten these restrictions.
While the nation was preparing for major religious festivals including Eid-al -Fitr, the Passover Seder and the Easter period, this season was a time of spiritual reflection and family reunion. Yet it remained one of the most hazardous times on the country’s national road network.
‘’Our mandate is clear: to ensure that every South African who sets out on a journey returns home safely’’, Creecy said.
With regard to progress in reducing road fatalities this year, the department was pleased to report that they had seen encouraging signs. Preliminary data for the period January 1 to March 15 indicated the lowest number of fatalities in six years
The number of crashes in the period decreased by eleven percent compared to the same period in 2025. Every province had seen a decrease in the number of crashes. Fatalities had decreased by 10% compared with the same period last year. Six provinces recorded decreases in fatalities.
These included Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Eastern Cape.
‘’This progress was not accidental; it is the direct result of coordinated law enforcement, strategic partnerships with civil society, and a shift in the collective consciousness of our road users. However, we cannot rest on these laurels. As long as one family still receives a knock on the door with news of a tragedy, our work is not done’’.
Creecy reaffirmed the country’s theme for the next two months: “It Begins With Me”. This was more than a slogan, she added. It was an appeal for personal accountability. Over 80% of road crashes were the direct result of human behaviour. She called on every driver, passenger and pedestrian to take ownership of their conduct on our shared roads.
‘’Our law enforcement strategy over this time will be uncompromising. I have directed all agencies to prioritise public and freight transport safety as well as pedestrians’’.
The Department also registered their concern at the number of Vehicle Testing Stations which were non-operational throughout the different provinces. The RTMC, working with the Department’s Vehicle Testing Inspectorate, had been instructed to facilitate a workable strategy to get all these facilities back to operation to ensure readiness during high volume traffic periods in future.
This year there would also be a targeted focus on preventing pedestrians from crossing and walking on highways. Officers would patrol areas of entertainment near highways to prevent inebriated pedestrians from running across major roads. Pedestrians currently accounted for almost half of all road deaths.
Traffic Authorities for the first time this year would be instructed to deploy their students to patrol these national critical pedestrian locations and not release students to go home.
‘’Our visibility in and around pedestrian accident-prone areas assisted by the communities and support from the SAPS will ensure that we keep the momentum of reducing road accidents and set us on our trajectory of achieving the road safety decade action target set for our country.
We continue our intensified focus on drunken driving. We are currently pursuing legislative amendments to Section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act to further tighten these restrictions’’.
