A Nelson Mandela Bay family is devastated after losing six members of the family in a horrifying accident along the N2, near the Tsitsikamma bridge.

The family was coming back from Knysna to Gqeberha when the Mini Cooper they were travelling in collided head-on with an oncoming car, overturned and caught fire.

The accident claimed the lives of a young couple, Sisanda Sister, 38; Zikhona Heleni, 27, and their two sons Azingce and Kungawo Heleni, aged one and three.

Also in the car was Heleni's mother, Noyakhe, 71 and her sister, Thembela, 51.

Their distraught family said the accident took away their family's anchors. Sisanda Sister's cousins said he was someone who valued family.

"When they heard the news, everyone asked, 'What are you going to do now?' Because everything you see done here at our home is because of him," said his cousin Nanziwe Mbatha.

"He stood up when our parents died and made sure this home continued to be a home for all of us."

The Heleni family declined to comment. However, Zikhona's Facebook page was filled with messages of support from close friends and family.

Those who knew Zikhona and her mother said they were best friends. "There was nothing she wouldn't do for her mother," said a friend.

Sister's family said they were disappointed by what she had seen on social media after the accident.

"People were posting videos of the crash, videos of the burning car, and videos of our nephew, whose tiny body was lying on the road," said a family member.

"No one checked to see if he was alive. All they cared about was capturing the footage on their phones."

The family is grateful that Sister's eldest child from a previous relationship didn't go on the trip.

"He's feeling some guilt, saying he was meant to have been in that crash," said the cousin, Mbatha.

"The occupants of the Rav4 are tourists from Dubai, who sustained minor injuries," she said.

Police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.