Preliminary data from the 2025/26 Festive Season Road Safety Campaign shows 1,427 fatalities from 1,172 crashes between December 1, 2025, and January 11, 2026—the lowest crash count in five years.
The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) welcomed a five percent reduction in festive season road fatalities but highlighted continued lawlessness among unregulated scholar transport operators as a major safety concern needing urgent intervention.
NTA spokesperson Theo Malele stressed that while reduced crash numbers represent progress, stricter enforcement is needed for scholar transport services. He referenced a deadly accident on January 19, 2025, where an overloaded scholar transport vehicle collided with a truck, resulting in 12 student deaths. Investigations suggest negligent overtaking caused the crash.
The NTA calls for regulated oversight and vetting of scholar transport drivers, criticizing current Professional Driving Permit standards as insufficient.
Malele expressed disappointment with media reporting that associates the recent fatal scholar transport accident with the taxi industry, urging accurate and unbiased coverage to avoid unjust reputational harm to the industry.
“Our investigations have revealed that the scholar transport driver did not belong to the taxi industry and did not possess a Professional Driving Permit.” He added that the NTA has been calling for the vetting of public transport drivers.
“If this reckless driver was vetted probably, he would not have been given an opportunity to be behind the wheel of that vehicle that took lives of innocent learners,” he said.
NTA and Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy extended condolences to the families of the deceased learners and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
