The Automobile Association (AA) South Africa has expressed concern about the Easter road fatality statistics, released by Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi in Pretoria.

The AA said it viewed these numbers as a sad indictment on road traffic safety and enforcement initiatives, and called on both the government, and driving public, to take serious stock of what these numbers mean.

“Last year’s preliminary figures, released shortly after the Easter period of 2016, indicated 156 deaths on our roads over the period. However, when the 30-day waiting period was over (which is customary when calculating final numbers) the fatalities rose by 57% to 245. If the same applies this year, the final figure may be as high as 370 fatalities. Apart from being deeply concerning, it is also totally unacceptable,” the AA noted.

According to the latest statistics, 235 people died on the country’s roads between 13 April and 17 April, an increase of 51% on 2016. Half of those who died in the crashes were passengers in vehicles, while pedestrians accounted for just under 25% of the fatalities. While almost all provinces recorded increases in fatalities, the Free State was the one province where roads deaths came down by 27%.

“We have said it before many times, and we will continue saying it, not enough is being done to stop the carnage on our roads. Year-in and year-out we are being given statistics that either stay marginally similar to the previous years’ figures, or, sadly, are increasing. And, while much is being said about how to turn this situation around, it appears these efforts are at best slow to materialise, at worst ineffective,” the Association said.

One major issue, the Association said, was the continuing problems associated with people buying driving licences, instead of earning them, and with the issuing of fraudulent roadworthy certificates for vehicles which should not be on the road.

The AA has called upon the Department of Transport, and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), which is spearheading investigations into the matter, to make more resources available to deal with the problem. In addition, more effective policing, along with visible consequences for bad driving, are needed to begin to address the issues, the AA said.