SIXTEEN people were killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a minibus taxi outside Bronkhorstspruit in Gauteng this week.

This is a continuation of the carnage on South African roads that has claimed at least 1280 lives so far over the festive period.

The horror accident on the notorious R568 main road between Bronkhorstspruit and Ekangala happened after a south-bound truck had a tyre burst, veered and crashed into a north-bound minibus taxi with 16 passengers, including the driver, on Wednesday.

Only a female passenger, who was sitting in front next to the taxi driver, and the truck driver survived the crash.

The 16th victim was a female vendor who was selling maize by the roadside. She was crushed to death when the truck dragged the minibus off the road into the veld.

When Sowetan arrived at the scene at about 6pm, body bags were all over the place with police and emergency services personnel hard at work removing bodies from the veld and laying them next to the road.

The unidentified female survivor and the truck driver were taken to Bronkhorstspruit Hospital.

A police spokesman said the driver was in a critical condition.

Ashref Ismail of the Road Traffic Management Corporation said this was one of the accidents that had the highest number of casualties since December 1. He said the truck's right front tyre had burst, causing it to crash into an oncoming minibus taxi, breaking it in two.

"It is alleged that the truck was travelling at high speed and there were no skid marks on the road. This shows that the driver could not apply the brakes."

The bodies were taken to a mortuary for identification.