A thousand cars an hour were heading inland through the Mooi River toll plaza on the N2 in KwaZulu-Natal by early Monday afternoon, the province’s road-traffic inspectorate said.
Spokesperson Rajen Chinaboo said it appeared poor weather had ”dampened some spirits” and at least some holidaymakers were returning home early.
By 2.30pm, he had no fatalities to report, despite the heavy traffic.
On Christmas Day, two people were killed, one on the R102 near Empangeni and one on the N2 at Mtwalume near Ifafa beach, south of Durban.
Both were passengers in vehicles of which the drivers had lost control.
In the first instance, the driver was arrested for drunken driving and culpable homicide.
Arrive Alive described the situation on the country’s roads as ”very quiet” on Monday.
”The only road that is experiencing higher-than-normal traffic at the moment is the N1 North in Polokwane,” spokesperson Cielie Karow said at 2.15pm. ”It’s the traffic back from Moria [a religious gathering].”
Karow said there was no traffic because ”everyone is in Durban already”. — Sapa