One thousand. That is the number of murders linked to road rage SA police recorded in the last quarter of 2023. Over the same period, more than 27,000 serious assaults linked to road rage were also recorded.
An article by University of Limpopo scholar and employee of the national traffic police, Shaka Yesufu, recently published in the International Journal of Social Science Research and Review indicates the numbers have been increasing significantly over the years.
The Automobile Association (AA) of SA has also reported road rage incidents are becoming more violent. While the statistics are shocking, there are two more that beg for reflection. According to research on the subject, about 47% of road rage incidents are perpetrated by drivers aged 18 to 25.
A report on passenger vulnerability indicates nearly 48% of surveyed drivers reported having children in the car during a road rage incident. These are statistics that should terrify all of us.
A video has gone viral on social media showing the tragic road rage incident that took place in Emmarentia, a suburb in Johannesburg, on Sunday. Reports indicate the incident followed a minor bumper bashing.
According to Gauteng police, during an altercation after the minor incident, a female passenger, suspected to be the wife of one of the drivers, went to fetch a firearm from the car.
The second driver also pulled out his firearm, resulting in shootings which claimed the life of the husband and injured the other driver and a female passenger.
The true horror of the incident was captured by a passerby in the immediate aftermath of the shootings. The daughter of the man who was killed is seen crying uncontrollably next to her father’s body, who can be seen lying in a pool of blood on the roadside.
A little boy, presumably the man’s son, is heard frantically screaming for his father and then proceeds to attempt CPR on him. With his little hands covered with blood, the boy tries desperately to save the life of a man he had no idea had died. It is a gut-wrenching sight, and an experience to which no child should ever be condemned.
Road rage in SA cannot be understood outside the broader crisis of violence and intolerance, combined with high-stress lifestyles, including economic pressures and the general culture of lawlessness.
We are an incredibly violent people, made even more so by the prevalence of firearms in the hands of private citizens. The violence we see on our roads reflects a general societal tendency toward violence.
Domestic violence in our homes and communities and physical assaults and stabbings in our schools and social gathering sites are a normal way of life in our country. This is evidenced in crime statistics that consistently show high levels of contact crimes.
These crimes are the outcome of high levels of stress from financial pressures, mental health problems that go untreated and other factors which can lead to shorter tempers, causing minor incidents to escalate into violent confrontations.
Congested highways, long commutes and poor road conditions in major metro areas, in particular, create a tense, competitive environment. Combine this with the disregard for the law by taxi drivers and other people and you have a time bomb constantly waiting to explode, like it did in Emmarentia.
SA cannot address road rage unless we understand its causes and the structural conditions that make it possible. We are not simply dealing with drivers who are frustrated by minor bumper bashing or overtaking, we are dealing with a people who have normalised violence and who exist in conditions of violence.
We owe it to ourselves to create a more liveable country, one in which children never have to do CPR on their deceased fathers in the middle of the road.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.