Some workplaces closed for the holidays on Friday, and many others will do so this week to give their employees a well-deserved end-of-year break. The shutdowns signal the festive season is in full swing — a period of joy and the proverbial recharging of tired bodies and minds. The holiday season ushers in plenty of travelling, putting extra pressure on our roads.
While roads play a crucial role in helping to move people, goods and services from one place to another, they have also become sites of tragedy. For some families the festive season, instead of being a period of joy and happiness, is a time of sorrow and tears owing to completely avoidable behaviour on the roads. Chief among these dangerous habits is driving under the influence of alcohol.
This past weekend, the Eastern Cape transport department recorded 213 arrests for drunken driving. According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, during the 2023/2024 holidays between December 1 and January 11, 154 fatal accidents were recorded in the Eastern Cape. The figure increased to 171 in the same period in 2024/2025.
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These fatalities are not mere statistics. Each number represents a mother, a father, a child, a neighbour, a future leader. And invariably the lives of all their loved ones are permanently affected.
And yet such tragedies are entirely avoidable if we all take road safety seriously. It is incumbent on each and every one of us to remember that drinking and driving is dangerous and morally indefensible, speeding kills, reckless behaviour on the roads can maim innocent people, buckling up saves lives and unroadworthy vehicles must not be used.
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