Easter death toll at 157

At least 157 people were killed on South African roads over the Easter weekend, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Tuesday.

According to the corporation’s preliminary figures, some of the biggest problems were speeding, dangerous overtaking, fatigue and tyre failure.

The RTMC's Ashref Ismail said officials were still gathering information from various police stations across the country.

“We must indicate that these are preliminary figures. The final picture will emerge at the end of this week.”

Meanwhile, the Western Cape government failed to meet its target of zero death toll.

At least 13 people were killed on the province’s roads.

In one of the crashes, a German national crashed with a mini bus taxi in Beaufort West after driving on the wrong side of the road.

He died instantly.

Traffic authorities were out in full force on all the country’s highways in a bid to keep the 2012 Easter death toll figure down.

At least 203 people were killed on the roads during the 2011 Easter period.

In 2010, the Automobile Association (AA) warned that South African roads were fast becoming known as the most dangerous in the world.

The organisation blamed poor law enforcement, blatant disregard for the law and the shockingly inept systems that are currently in place when it comes to prosecuting road offenders.

- EWN