Most Dangerous and Deadliest Roads in South Africa

The national Minister of Transport Sibosiso Ndebele has indicated that in Africa, up to half of all hospital surgical beds are occupied by patients injured on the roads and that vehicles had become the deadliest weapons of mass destruction in recent history. “In South Africa, road accidents kill 40 people a day, a 1 000 people every month and about 14 000 a year, leaving scores injured and disabled", he said. Globally, the annual road crashes account for 1.3 million deaths and the carnage in South Africa is estimated to cost more than R60bn to the local economy.

According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) spokesman Ashref Ismail, the most dangerous road to travel in South Africa is the N2 route from East London through Mthatha to Kokstad and has been officially deemed to be the deadliest road in South Africa. In terms of the Final National Rolling Enforcement Plan at least 167 road fatalities occurred on this route between April 2009 and March 2010. The road winds through various mountainous areas with barrier lines which motorists frequently ignored. Stray animals and week-end pedestrians created additional hazards.

The second most dangerous road is the N1 north of Pretoria. More than 80% of road accidents are caused by human error. The major contributing factors include excessive speeding, overtaking, fatigue, overloading and tyre failure.
 
Routes with the Highest Average Annual Number of Reported Fatalities (does not take traffic volumes and/or distances into account)

RSA Average Annual Number of Reported Fatalities

Pieter Rautenbach