Pretoria - Well over 1 000 people have lost their lives on the country's roads since the start of the festive season.
According to preliminary statistics from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), 1 149 people have died in 958 car crashes from 1 - 28 December.
The most number of crashes, 185, occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, with 169 crashes taking place in Gauteng and 131 in the Eastern Cape.
Some of the major factors contributing to the crashes include speeding, tyre failure, fatigue, dangerous overtaking and drinking and driving.
Given the number of deaths recorded so far, the RTMC, together with its provincial and municipal partners, has vowed to pull out all the stops to ensure that the New Year's weekend is a safe one for those on the country's roads.
Motorists can expect multi-disciplinary roadblocks, roadside checkpoints, roving patrols, roving stop and checks, ghost squad patrols and patrol vehicles equipped with moving violation recorders and automatic number plate recognition devices this weekend.
Drunk drivers will also be targeted by the traffic authorities.
"We will show no mercy. If we catch you drinking and driving, you will be arrested and if convicted, have a criminal record for life," Collins Letsoalo, acting CEO of the RTMC, warned.
Motorists travelling in "severely un-roadworthy" vehicles will, over and above a fine, also have the license disc removed and the vehicle discontinued.
A similar fate awaits speedsters who deliberately remove registration plates, display fraudulent plates, obscure plates or use hairspray or laser jammers in order to beat speed cameras.
