Transport minister Barbara Creecy aims to impose an outright ban on drinking and driving after a previous similar government bid failed.
Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday, she reported a 5% decrease in festive season crashes and fatalities compared with the year before but said alcohol-related arrests had surged.
“A total of 173,695 drivers were tested for driving under the influence of alcohol, and 8,561 of them tested positive, a 144% increase on the same period last year.”
She believed South Africa’s drinking and driving policy was outdated, and the time had come for the law to be amended to have a clear-cut, easy-to-understand and unambiguous policy that rules drinking and driving are not allowed.
“Our driving and drinking policy was formulated many years ago. In today’s South Africa it is unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and drive. I cannot explain this to anyone who has lost a parent, a brother, a sister, or a child as a result of a road accident,” she said.
“A law that allows drivers to drink a certain amount and then get behind the wheel of a car must be scrapped. We will begin an amendment to section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act. If nothing else, we owe this to the memories of the many fellow South Africans who have lost their lives on the roads.”
In 2022 the portfolio committee on transport rejected a government proposal to reduce the allowable alcohol limit for drivers to zero. The law remains that motorists can drive with a blood alcohol level not higher than 0.05g per 100ml of blood, or 0.02g per 100ml for a professional driver.
This time the portfolio committee on transport has thrown its support behind Creecy.
“The committee supports the consideration of a total ban on alcohol use on the roads. It is clear now that decisive action is required. Otherwise, during the Easter period in three months, high fatality figures are likely to persist,” committee chair Donald Selamolela said.
“It has become clear that driving under the influence of alcohol has reached alarming levels, resulting in unnecessary loss of life. The committee and its predecessors may not have exercised sufficient rigour in their oversight role. The committee supports the consideration of a total ban of alcohol use by drivers.”
There has been a mixed reaction to the idea of imposing a zero drinking and driving policy. The AA initially said reducing the blood alcohol limit for drivers to zero would criminalise innocent motorists and was unlikely to have the results authorities believe it will have.
The AA argued a zero-drinking law might unfairly criminalise drivers who may have trace amounts of alcohol in their system after taking painkillers or cough syrups. It said the proposed bill would make motorists soft targets for traffic law enforcers, and the desired outcomes of improved road safety would not be met.
The AA later backtracked, saying a zero-alcohol limit for drivers in South Africa would significantly reduce the number of road accidents. It called for a comprehensive zero-tolerance policy towards drinking and driving, coupled with much stricter penalties for offenders
Under the law, if you are caught drunk driving, you could be arrested and face fines of between R2,000 and R120,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to six years. You may also lose your driver’s licence or have it suspended, and you will have a criminal record.
Creecy did not provide a timeline for amending the law.
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