Several dead after Zimbabwe-bound bus crashes on N1 near Makhado
Emergency services personnel are at the scene on the N1-29 near Ingwe Lodge outside Makhado after a bus travelling from Gauteng to Zimbabwe crashed on Thursday morning.
Image: Sourced/ IOL
Several people have reportedly been killed after a bus travelling from Gauteng to Zimbabwe veered off the N1 and plunged into a ditch near Ingwe Lodge outside Makhado on Thursday morning.
The Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety confirmed that the N1-29 has been completely closed in both directions following the crash.
Emergency services are on the scene, and rescue and recovery operations are under way. Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of fatalities or injuries, as the vehicle remains in the ditch, making it difficult to determine how many passengers were on board.
The cause of the crash remains unknown and will be investigated.
Limpopo Transport and Community Safety MEC Violet Mathye is expected to visit the scene on Thursday morning.
While details of the current crash are still emerging, the latest tragedy adds to mounting concern over long-distance bus safety on South Africa’s highways.
In October 2025, a deadly DNC bus crash on the N1 near Louis Trichardt claimed 43 lives and injured dozens more, with a Department of Transport and RTMC investigation finding the vehicle was unroadworthy, overloaded and travelling at unsafe speeds when it veered down a steep embankment.
Motorists have been urged to avoid the area and use alternative routes via the R523 Nzhelele Road.
Zimbabwean and Malawian passengers were travelling from Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape to their home countries when the bus veered off a mountainous section of the N1 in October last year
Image: File
From Makhado (Witvlag), motorists should turn right onto the R523. From Musina, motorists should turn left at Willysport. From Siloam, motorists should turn right onto the R523.
The department said further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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