Mbalula was speaking at the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s offices in Midrand on Tuesday. He was there to assess how remote technologies are used to monitor traffic movements and emergencies.

Mbalula said road fatalities could be avoided if motorists abide by the rules of the road and drive safely.

“You can’t drive a car from Harare to Pretoria and Johannesburg without breaks; it’s not possible. That is absolute nonsense and madness,” Mbalula said.

He said as traffic volumes increase over the next two weeks, officers would keep an eye out for drunk drivers.

“Such people must be arrested as you’ve seen with our lunch, we’ve such occurrences on the road,” he said.

The N3, N1, and the N14 are expected to be extremely busy this festive season.

Last year, more than 700 people died on the country’s roads during the holiday period with most deaths recorded in KwaZulu-Natal followed by Gauteng.

EWN