JOHANNESBURG – South Africa has recorded a 15% drop in road deaths since 2010.

The announcement was made by the Ministry of Transport on Sunday, during a wreath-laying ceremony in honor of 69 traffic officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

The department attributed the decline to the National Road Safety Strategy 2016-2030, which aims to halve the number of road deaths by 2030.

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In 2010, the country recorded a staggering 13,967 deaths, a figure that the department says continues to gradually decline.

Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa said while the reduction is encouraging, there is still much work to be done.

“Road safety is a national responsibility and it’s a fundamental economic issue. I mean, if you look at the amount of money we lose on our roads to accidents, the time and productivity amounts to about R160 billion.”