The first incident, involving a bus and a small vehicle occurred in the northern province of Limpopo at 2am (1200GMT), killing eleven people.

Later in the day, a mini bus laden with commuters, collided with a truck, south of the port city of Durban.

“We have learnt that 14 people died on the scene after a taxi driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed onto an oncoming truck,” said Sipho Khumalo, an official at the Kwazulu Natal department of transport.

A bulk of South African commuters, especially from poor communities, rely mini bus taxis to get around.

The privately operated vehicles are notorious for speeding, poor maintenance and overloading of passengers.

A week ago, 29 commuters were killed when a bus crashed into a lorry, north east of the capital Pretoria.

Despite its sophisticated road networks, South Africa battles a high rate of road fatalities, with about 38 fatalities on average per day, according to government figures.