25 people lost their lives yesterday when a bus rolled down a steep embankment in South Africa's coastal Eastern Cape province, the country's transport minister said.

"Reports indicate that the driver lost control of the bus, which subsequently rolled down a steep embankment, leaving 25 dead and approximately 62 injured," according to Fikile Mbalula.

"To lose so many lives in a single accident is devastating and shocking."

The Minister noted that the victims were going to cash-in their government-issued social grants.

The bus was carrying 80 elderly people however, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the dead were mainly pensioners and young students.

"This tragedy leaves our country deeply saddened and forces us to focus yet again on the need for transport providers and other road users to exercise care and consideration on our roads," said the president.

"From this incident, we see the need for us to be especially considerate towards elderly persons and children who depend on others to be conveyed around communities and the country," he added.