ROADS to Gauteng are experiencing extremely heavy traffic as holidaymakers return home after the festive season, the Road Traffic Management Corporation said yesterday.

The preliminary figure for road deaths during the festive season is just over 1100.

RTMC spokesman Ashref Ismail said 2600 cars an hour were passing through the N3 Mooi River toll plaza going north to Johannesburg from Durban yesterday.

Ismail said on the N1 south, 1700 cars were passing through the Kranskop toll plaza between Polokwane and Pretoria every hour, while 1000 cars were passing through the Verkeerdevlei toll plaza in the Free State on the N1 north to Johannesburg.

The tollgates were expected to be busy today and massive traffic volumes were expected again from Friday, he said.

The agency raised serious concerns about the high number of fatalities .

Ismail attributed the cause of accidents and deaths to excessive speeding.

"We urge motorists to obey the rules of the road, especially the speed limit," he said.

"We urge them to take a break after every two hours of driving."

There was also a problem with taxi drivers who worked long shifts without taking a break in a bid to make extra money from the high demand for transport, Ismail said.

"This leads to fatigue because they do not rest enough," he said.

The South African National Taxi Council said it had removed 13 unroadworthy vehicles through its Hlokomela campaign, which it runs jointly with the traffic police.

Hlokomela head Bafana Magagula said the vehicles removed had poor brakes and worn-out tyres. He said they would be intensifying the campaign from Friday.

The Johannesburg Emergency Services said it responded to one call in which a man was killed and others injured when a minibus taxi en route to Mozambique overturned in Dobsonville, Soweto, on Saturday.