# South Africa crash near Durban leaves 11 dead as transport officials order inquiry

Event date: 2026-01-29

A collision between a truck and a minibus taxi near Durban in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province killed at least 11 people on January 29, 2026, according to provincial transport officials and emergency responders cited by the Associated Press. Several other people were reported critically injured, including the taxi driver, who emergency crews said was trapped in the wreckage after the impact.

The dead included a schoolchild, according to preliminary information released by provincial transport department official Siboniso Duma. The crash happened near Durban, one of the province's main urban centers, and immediately drew a response from both emergency services and transport authorities because of the scale of the fatalities and the condition of survivors taken from the scene.

Witness accounts cited by Duma suggested the truck driver made a U-turn that led to a head-on collision with the taxi. That version had not been presented as a final official finding, but it gave investigators an early line of inquiry into how the crash unfolded. Garrith Jamieson of ALS Paramedics separately told AP that 11 people were dead and several others were in critical condition.

The preliminary probe described by Duma also raised concerns about both vehicles involved. He said the truck was allegedly operating illegally with worn tires, while the taxi driver's professional public transport license had expired in 2023. Those details do not establish final legal responsibility, but they indicate that investigators were already examining whether regulatory failures and roadworthiness problems contributed to the deaths.

The crash came just over a week after another deadly collision involving a truck and a minibus taxi in South Africa. AP said that earlier crash, near Johannesburg on January 19, had left 14 schoolchildren dead and led to murder charges against the minibus driver after authorities accused him of reckless overtaking. The proximity of the two crashes added urgency to official concern over public transport safety.

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said she had serious concerns about the continuing rise in traffic deaths involving public transportation and instructed the Road Traffic Management Corporation to work with local authorities on the latest case. A preliminary report was expected within 48 hours of the corporation beginning its inquiry. The article's verified picture remains narrow but stark: 11 people were killed near Durban, several others were critically hurt, and officials immediately linked the disaster to broader worries about South Africa's public transport enforcement and road safety system.