KwaZulu-Natal sees historic decline in festive season road fatalities

The 2025/2026 festive season in KwaZulu-Natal is being marked by a “historic decrease” in road fatalities and accidents, alongside a strong performance by the KZN South Coast tourism sector, despite a shorter overall holiday period.

MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said that while final figures will be released after the end of the festive season period by the Transport Minister, Barbra Creecy, the department welcomes the “historic decrease” in road fatalities and accidents.

From the start of the festive season to January 2, 2026, Duma reported a decrease in both crashes and fatalities when comparing 2025 to the previous year, 2024.

In 2025, there were 187 crashes and 207 fatalities, down from 203 crashes and 237 fatalities in 2024. This represents an 8% decrease in crashes and a 13% decrease in fatalities.

“We attribute the decrease to the successful execution of the #NenzaniLaEzweni Operation by the Road Traffic Inspectorate,” said the MEC.

Duma said the operation also focused on massive arrests for drunk driving, and from August 15 until the early morning of January 3, 3,201 motorists were arrested. 

He reported that 28,145 motorists were charged with various traffic regulation violations. 

The MEC said drunken driving, speeding, and non-compliance with the rules of the road are key contributors to road fatalities. The deployment of the RTI team from Empangeni to the border and cross-border routes is clearly yielding significant results, he added.

Duma reported that over 27,100 vehicles were stopped and searched, with a specific focus on the border area between KwaZulu-Natal, Mozambique, and Swaziland.

From December 1, traffic enforcement operations in the Empangeni Region — encompassing the road networks of Umkhanyakude, Zululand, and King Cetshwayo districts — yielded significant figures. 

These included the arrest of 12 illegal immigrants and 281 motorists for drunk driving.

Furthermore, authorities charged 4,118 motorists for various offences. Separately, 273 drivers were found to be without a valid licence, and 364 unlicensed vehicles were also discovered. 

In a recent operation conducted in Kokstad on Friday night, Duma commended the RTI team for preventing the loss of life by removing drunk motorists from the road. 

“The 28 motorists arrested in Kokstad are a clear indication that we mean business. The people of KwaZulu-Natal, across all racial groups, are proud of the solid work by RTI. Families who could have lost their loved ones through road accidents are together and happy.”

While road safety saw improvements, the festive season was marred by tragic incidents at sea.

Statistics compiled from National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) reports since the start of the festive season to date revealed that along the KZN coast, at least three people have been confirmed dead after getting into difficulty while swimming at various beaches, while at least 10 people are missing. 

The mass casualty drowning incident at Pennington Beach on the KZN south coast left two dead and three missing on New Year’s Day. The body of another man was found at a nearby beach on Friday.

Despite the condensed holiday period and safety challenges, the tourism sector reported a mixed but largely positive performance.

The festive season proved to be short and intense, according to Brett Tungay, national spokesperson for the Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa). 

Tungay said based on reports from most of the country that it was only really a two-week season, from just before Christmas to January 2.

He noted that while many areas, including KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Cape, “are reporting the same earnings as last year,” there was “very little actual growth this year”.

He attributed this to the condensed period, explaining: “We're thinking that this is because there was a shorter busy period with slightly higher rates.” 

Tungay added: “The busy period is normally about four weeks during December/January; this year it's only two weeks... We didn't see the growth that we were hoping for in general.”

According to Tungay, Durban is generally reporting between 70% and 80% occupancy for December.

However, he highlighted it as a major success story in KZN. “The good news that does stand out is the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast did extremely well over December, with most places showing at least a 25% to 30% increase from last December, which is brilliant.”

He further explained that the South Coast had a very long bad patch. “It's good to see the KZN South Coast has turned a corner.”

Tungay said in terms of the economy, the hospitality sector has not yet seen a turnaround and hopes that towards the March/April holiday period, it will pick up a bit.

karen.singh@inl.co.za