Transport Minister Dullah Omar has revealed that 32 522 foreign visitors were involved in road accidents in South Africa in the year to the end of March.
Transport Minister Dullah Omar has revealed that 32 522 foreign visitors were involved in road accidents in South Africa in the year to the end of March. In actual fact, the figure is probably higher because KwaZulu-Natal was not able to provide its statistics.
The safety of foreign tourists recently came under the spotlight after a British woman was raped and a Moçambican man killed after they were attacked in Mpumalanga. But the high incidence of violent crime in this country is not the only danger potential visitors to South Africa need to consider…
No fewer than 364 of the 32 522 tourists involved in road accidents during the said period died as a result of their injuries – almost one tourist a day. Of the other victims, 1 781 were seriously injured, 4 027 sustained slight injuries and 26 350 escaped without injury.
The vast majority (223) of those killed were involved in accidents in Mpumalanga, compared with 73 in Gauteng, 33 in North West and 16 in Western Cape. Most of the serious injuries (975) occurred in Mpumalanga.
Of the foreigners killed, 161 were drivers of vehicles, 185 were passengers and 18 pedestrians.
Omar said the Road Accident Fund had considered 341 claims totalling R152,5 million (an average of R447 278 each from visitors from 48 countries in the year to the end of September). In all, 29 claims were lodged for death and 309 for bodily injuries.
Recently, two Belgians injured in a car accident were compensated R30-million each from the Road Accident Fund, while a British tourist received R24,8-million for injuries sustained.
More than half the claims came from Mozambique, Britain, Lesotho, Germany, US and Swaziland, while other claims came from Britain (R44 million), Germany (R17 million), US (R10,6 million) and Mozambique (R3 million).