7 Dead Including Toddler in N4 Crash in Mpumalanga on New Year’s Eve
- Seven people died in a head-on collision on the N4 in Mpumalanga on New Year's Eve
- A car lost control and swerved into oncoming traffic, colliding with another vehicle; a toddler was among the victims
- South Africans condemned reckless driving on the roads and were saddened by the loss
- Crash investigator Stan Bezuidenhout spoke to Briefly News about South Africa's road safety standards
Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.
Source: UGC
MPUMALANGA — A toddler was among seven who died in a horrific accident on 31 December 2024 in Mpumalanga.
What caused the crash?
The incident happened in the afternoon on the N4 Toll Road between Wonderfontein and Belfast. A vehicle reportedly lost control and drove into oncoming traffic. It collided head-on with a vehicle. Five occupants of one vehicle died, while two occupants of the other vehicle lost their lives. The province's Department of Community Safety said negligent driving may have been the cause of the accident.
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Horrific accidents in December 2024
- An overloaded taxi crashed into a barrier on the N2 in KwaZulu-Natal on 30 December, killing two people
- Seven people died and three were injured when a taxi overturned on the N3 in Mpumalanga on 23 December
- A head-on collision between a taxi and a bakkie killed 11 people on the N2 outside of Dutywa in the Eastern Cape
Expert discusses road safety standards
Briefly News spoke to Stan Bezuidenhout, who weighed in on South Africa's road safety standards.
"I think we don't have funny functional safety standards. If all it takes for a bus to be roadworthy is a check-box examination once a year, and if all it takes to remain operational is fuel and a running engine, the industry cannot be described as totally safe," he said.
South Africans angry
Netizens on Facebook were furious at the rate of accidents happening on the roads during the festive season.
Denise Veller said:
"A lawless society under a failed law and order system all under a failed government."
Prian's Page said:
"Happens when people can buy licenses without knowing how to drive."
Lionel Richard Schultz said:
"So tired of reading about these horrific accidents and road fatalities and the rhetoric from these government idiots and law traffic law enforcement officials that motorists obey the rules of the road."
Skhumbuzo Mathotholo Mabuza asked:
"How fast are you driving for a car to be in that shape?"
Susan Louw asked:
"How do you lose control over a car if you are driving 130 km/h?"
SA's most horrific accidents in 2024
In a related article, Briefly News wrote about the most horrific accidents of 2024. More than 10,000 people died on the roads last year. Many were hospitalised during the year as a result of the crashes.
The festive season alone claimed over 500 lives, and some of the worst accidents include a crash that claimed 12 learners in Carletonville, Gauteng. In another accident, eight high school pupils were killed in an accident on the N2 in Fochville, Gauteng.
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Source: Briefly News
