Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport said on Tuesday the rate at which road accidents and related fatalities were happening in South Africa were alarmingly high and should not be tolerated.

“The country should move into the culture of passenger safety by ensuring that vehicles on the road and the drivers are fit for the purpose.

“It is unfortunate that road fatalities continue to rob families of breadwinners and relatives in the manner we saw over the weekend‚” said the chairperson of the committee‚ Dikeledi Magadzi.

“The Road Traffic Management Corporation and all other relevant law enforcement agencies should up their game and not mostly focus on the festive season. Drivers ought to be alert at all times to the terrain of their localities. If during one ordinary weekend the country loses such a number of lives on the road‚ then it is the right time to reflect‚” she said.

A record number (46) of people died in the Eastern Cape following road accidents over the weekend on the R408 between the towns of Willowvale and Butterworth‚ and on the R61 between Cradock and Graaff Reinet.

Magadzi sent condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the Eastern Cape over the weekend.