Pretoria - At least 30 people were killed in road accidents in South Africa at the weekend.
Earlier on Sunday a male passenger in his early 30's died after a bakkie overturned on the R30 Klerksdorp-Ventersdorp road in the North West. It is suspected that overloading and tyre under-inflation could have caused the left hand tyre to burst and the driver of the bakkie to lose control of the vehicle.
The bakkie with four male occupants was transporting mealies bought from nearby Klippan farms destined for sale in Dobsonville. The 44-year-old driver of the Isuzu bakkie and two other passengers who were in the vehicle did not sustain any injuries.
In another incident, two people died in a head-on collision on the N12 in the North West. A truck and a car collided at around 4am outside Wolmaranstad on Saturday morning.
It is alleged that the VW Polo which was driving from Klerksdorp towards Wolmaranstad veered into the lane of an oncoming truck that was driving in the opposite direction.
A further 19 people, including a 2-year-old boy, were killed and others seriously injured in an accident involving a bus outside Fouriesburg on Saturday. It is believed the driver of the bus had been travelling from Bloemfontein towards Bethlehem when the accident occurred.
On Friday, eight people were reported killed as well as other injuries in a head-on collision between a minibus taxi and a truck outside Villiers.
Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, who conveyed condolences to the families of those killed, said the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) had dispatched accident investigation and reconstruction specialists to assist in the investigation of the crashes.
He said government was going all out to ensure safer roads in South Africa but urged road users to play a more active role in road safety in 2011.
He added that in the current wet weather motorists should exercise extreme caution on the roads.
"Drivers must adjust to the prevailing road conditions, reduce speed and increase their following distance, especially during inclement weather and at hazardous locations," said Ndebele.
