Six people were killed and six others injured when a minibus taxi and a truck collided on the N2 near eMaxesibeni in the Eastern Cape on Saturday morning.
The victims were travelling from Alice towards Bizana when the Toyota Quantum struck a Mercedes-Benz truck heading in the opposite direction. The crash happened at about 7am, according to provincial transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose.
The deceased comprise five men and one woman. They are believed to have been university students returning home, but their identities and student status had not been formally confirmed at the time of the report.
“Preliminary information suggests that the Toyota Quantum crossed into the path of the oncoming truck, resulting in a head-on collision.”
Binqose said driver fatigue was suspected as a possible contributing factor. However, the precise circumstances remained under investigation, meaning that the early account of how the taxi moved into the truck’s path could still be supplemented or revised as investigators examine the scene and the vehicles involved.
Six injured in the collision
Emergency teams treated people at the scene before those injured were taken for medical care. Three people sustained serious injuries, while another three suffered minor injuries.
| Impact of the crash | Number of people |
|---|---|
| People killed | 6 |
| Serious injuries | 3 |
| Minor injuries | 3 |
The crash has added to mounting concern over safety on the N2, one of the Eastern Cape’s key long-distance routes. It occurred less than 24 hours after another multiple-fatality collision near Ndabakazi, further south on the same road.
Two N2 crashes claim 13 lives
Seven people, including a five-year-old boy, died in the earlier crash after a Suzuki seven-seater and a Toyota Corolla collided. Poor visibility caused by mist and suspected drunk driving were identified as possible factors in that incident, although the circumstances were also subject to investigation.
Together, the two crashes claimed 13 lives in less than two days. The concentration of fatal collisions has placed renewed attention on the risks faced by passengers and commercial drivers using the province’s long-distance roads, particularly during journeys between university towns, rural communities and larger transport centres.
- The latest crash happened near eMaxesibeni, formerly known as Mount Ayliff.
- The taxi was travelling from Alice towards Bizana.
- Three injured people were reported to be in a serious condition and three had minor injuries.
- Police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision.
For families waiting for confirmation, the lack of formally released identities means that the final passenger list and identification process remain important next steps. The transport authorities had not confirmed whether all six of the deceased were students, despite the initial belief that they were travelling home from university.
Earlier crashes raise fatigue concerns
The latest fatality count also follows two other deadly collisions in the Eastern Cape in the preceding weeks. Six women died last month when a Toyota Quantum carrying 16 passengers collided with a truck on the R61 outside Aberdeen. Fatigue was again listed among the suspected causes.
A week later, six more people died when a truck carrying about 30 passengers to a traditional ceremony overturned near Bizana in the Port St Johns area. The incidents point to the continuing danger associated with heavily used passenger vehicles, long journeys and the management of driver rest, although each crash must be assessed on its own evidence.
Authorities have not attributed the eMaxesibeni collision to a confirmed cause. The working suspicion around fatigue does not replace the police investigation, which will need to establish the movements of both vehicles and determine what happened before the impact.
The deaths have again highlighted the human cost of crashes on the province’s major transport corridors. For passengers using the N2, the immediate safety priorities remain basic but critical: drivers need to be rested, vehicles must be roadworthy and speed and visibility conditions must be managed. The investigation will determine whether any of those factors played a role in Saturday’s collision.
