Pretoria - Eighteen people were killed in a road crash involving a mini-bus taxi and bakkie near Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday.
According to officials from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, the crash occurred on the P601 at Franklin near Kokstad, when the driver of the bakkie allegedly failed to negotiate a bend and collided head-on with the mini-bus taxi.
A total of 18 people were declared dead on scene. A further eight people were also injured, seven of them critically, and were taken to nearby hospitals.
Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has reached out to the families of those killed.
"We want to express our condolences to the families and relatives of the 18 people who lost their lives in [the] horrific crash... We wish those injured a speedy recovery," he said.
"Through the Road Traffic Management Corporation, we have dispatched an independent team of accident investigation and reconstruction specialists to assist in the investigation of this crash.
"Officials from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) will also render necessary assistance to the affected families."
As part of the Make Roads Safe campaign and National Rolling Traffic Law Enforcement Plan (NREP), two motorists were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal over the past 24 hours for travelling in speeds in excess of 170 km/h.
The two will appear in court on Monday, 25 October 2010.
Since 1 October 2010, as part of NREP, more than half a million vehicles and drivers have been stopped and checked and thousands of fines issued for various traffic offences.
"Road crashes continue to rob us of our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children. We must work together and do everything to make our roads safe," said Minister Ndebele.
