Three people were killed in a yet another head-on collision outside Lichtenburg in North West province.
The accident on Tuesday afternoon involving a sedan and a utility vehicle was the second in three days on the R503 road linking Lichtenburg and the capital Mahikeng.
The R503 road is an alternative route to avoid the Swartruggens toll gate on the N4 freeway. It also connects Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom with Mahikeng via Lichtenburg.
"Four passengers have been admitted at the hospital with serious injuries," said Hans Kekana, the newly appointed head of department of community safety and transport management in North West.
Kekana said it was concerning that in a short space of three days, nine lives had been lost on the same stretch of road. He said it was tragic to lose nine lives in one week, and urged motorists to obey the rules of the road, and drive according to the regulated speed limit.
"We will never get tired of talking about road safety and continue to plead with our people to abide by road rules," he said.
On Sunday, in yet another collision, six people died instantaneously on the same road, when a minibus taxi and a bakkie collided head-on. The minibus taxi was travelling eastwards from Mahikeng when it collided with a bakkie that was overtaking another vehicle coming from the Lichtenburg direction.
Four people, including the driver of the taxi and two women, died at the scene.
Kekana said some of the 17 injured who were taken to hospitals in Lichtenburg and Mahikeng have been discharged.
The cause of the two accidents is being investigated.
Community Safety and Transport Management MEC Sello Lehari sent deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.
IOL