CAPE TOWN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) - Thirty people were killed on South African roads within 24 hours despite a drive-safely campaign to reduce traffic accidents, authorities said on Sunday.
In the latest accident in east of Polokwane, Limpopo Province early Sunday, two mini-bus taxis collided, killing 11 people on board, the provincial travel department said.
There was no survivor in the collision, said the department.
In another accident in Cape Town early Saturday, nine people died and 14 others injured when a construction vehicle they were travelling in lost control and overturned, the city traffic department said
Preliminary investigations indicated that fatigue was blamed for the two carnages.
The two accidents took place as a drive-safely campaign was underway before holidaymakers make their way to different destinations for the Heritage Day, a public holiday which falls on September 24.
Authorities have urged road users to obey the rules of the road during the holiday.
South Africa has one of the worst road safety records in the world, losing over 40 people a day to traffic crashes, with a further 20 being left permanently disabled and several hundred suffering serious injuries, according to Arrive Alive, a civil organization dedicated to road safety.
Road accidents cost the South African economy an estimated 133 billion rand (about 8.9 billon U.S. dollars) annually, which has a significant effect on other needs such health, education, housing, job creation initiatives, water and electricity production and other state expenses, Arrive Alive says.
