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- Nine people, including two children, died in a head-on taxi crash in the Eastern Cape.
- One of the taxis was fully loaded as it drove from Tsolo to Mossel Bay.
- The transport department is pleading with motorists to be patient on the roads.
The annual pilgrimage from a relaxing rest with family and friends, to start the new year of school, university, and work, got off to a tragic start in the Eastern Cape on Sunday night when nine people were killed in a head-on taxi crash.
Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesperson Unathi Qibose said three women, four men, and two children between the ages of one to four were killed in the accident between Makhanda and Nanaga on the N2.
So far, investigators have established that a fully loaded taxi driving in the direction of Gqeberha and another taxi, understood to have been driven by a man whose wife was the only passenger, collided head-on.
The crash left nine people dead, with the injured being taken for medical treatment.
The one taxi was bound for Mossel Bay from Tsolo, and the taxi with the husband and wife was bound for Gqeberha from Mthatha.
Qibose said:
"Head-on collisions always tell us that one of the drivers was on the wrong side of the road. He was doing something he should not have done when the accident happened.
"That one mistake has claimed no less than nine lives, and 15 in total if you add the accident that happened near Graaff-Reinet some two days ago.
"We are pleading with motorists to be patient – rather get to your destination late than not getting there at all," he said.
Eastern Cape Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxotiwe extended her condolences to the bereaved families.
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