South Africans can expect a more substantial law-enforcement presence on the roads this festive season as authorities across the country ramp up efforts to curb crashes, crime, and by-law violations.
With holiday traffic already building, the government has launched extensive safety campaigns aimed at reducing the high number of fatalities typically recorded during the month of December and early January.
In Johannesburg, the City’s Public Safety Department has launched its 2025 Festive Season Safety Campaign, which will run from 1 December 2025 to mid-January 2026.
The initiative is designed as both a warning and an appeal to road users. With 5.5 million registered vehicles in Gauteng alone, the risk on the province’s highways and streets continues to increase.
Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela said the numbers speak for themselves. There are more cars, more movement, and more people travelling.
This means more opportunities for accidents, especially involving pedestrians. She stressed that enforcement will be coordinated and uncompromising, adding that lawbreakers should expect consequences.
“All law enforcement agencies are collaborating and working together, and we’ll make sure that people are safe. We will arrest you,” she warned.
Pedestrian deaths remain one of the most troubling concerns, accounting for more than half of Gauteng’s road fatalities.
This reality has placed additional urgency on the campaign led by MMC for Public Safety Mgcini Tshwaku, JMPD Commissioner Patrick Jaca, and Emergency Management Services Chief Andries Macuvele.
Tshwaku said residents should expect high-density patrols and roadblocks across every region, day and night.
The City is adopting a zero-tolerance stance on drinking and driving, unroadworthy vehicles, cellphone use while driving, expired discs and licences, and failure to wear seatbelts.
Joint operations involving JMPD, EMS, and other enforcement units will be deployed around the clock, supported by thousands of officers.
The city will also run 24/7 “smart roadblocks,” where motorists can pay outstanding fines on-site.
What they’ll be looking for
The national government is echoing these measures. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has urged all road users to take the surge in traffic seriously ahead of the Christmas and New Year long weekends.
She revealed that more than 10,000 people have lost their lives on South Africa’s roads in 2024, with most crashes occurring late at night or in the early hours of the morning—especially over weekends.
In response, 24/7 traffic policing will be intensified on high-risk routes throughout the festive season.
Officers will focus on speed enforcement, vehicle inspections, and drunk-driving arrests, while border posts will see additional deployments as cross-border traffic increases.
Creecy said national, provincial, and municipal authorities, together with the Road Traffic Management Corporation, are working closely to ensure strict enforcement.
Historically, the Department of Transport has targeted vehicles with severe defects, and this year the approach will be even tougher.
Any vehicle found with three or more critical faults—such as leaking engine oil, defective lights, faulty brakes, worn tyres, cracked windscreens, or expired licences—will be immediately impounded.
The City of Johannesburg said its goal is to ensure a “safe, orderly, and enjoyable festive season” for residents and visitors.
The Western Cape has also launched its own extensive festive-season plan, unveiled at an event in Beaufort West—one of the province’s busiest transit corridors.
More than 600 provincial officers and over 300 patrol vehicles will be deployed across the province.
This will be supported by high-visibility patrols, around-the-clock staffing, mobile vehicle-testing units, evidentiary breath-testing centres for alcohol enforcement, and pedestrian safety operations in high-risk areas.
Authorities will focus on reducing speeding, distracted driving, reckless behaviour, and driver fatigue on long-distance routes such as the N1, N2, and N7.
The Western Cape Government stated that it intends to work tirelessly to keep roads safe and ensure that families can reach their holiday destinations without harm.