Johannesburg - Gauteng member of the executive council for public transport and roads infrastructure Jacob Mamabolo has urged the religious community to join in efforts led by the provincial government to tackle road-related deaths and taxi violence.

Mamabolo told congregants at a church on Sunday that the carnage on Gauteng's roads had reached crisis levels, with an estimated 40 people dying per day.

“My visit to your church today, is to plead with you to pray so that we change driver behaviour and also for peace in the taxi industry. It cannot be correct that our roads continue to kill so many people,” Mamabolo said, adding that his department would host a road safety summit.

“As part of making our province a hub for easy movement of people and goods, we need to make our roads safer. We also cannot ignore the unacceptable rates of violence and murder in the taxi industry," he said.

"The taxi industry is one of the biggest people movers in our province, with close to 70 percent of our people using this mode of transport.”