Transport Minister Barbara Creecy’s announcement of an urgent plan to amend the National Road Traffic Act to institute a complete ban on drinking and driving has been met with overwhelming support from road safety activists and labour organisations.
The minister’s move, revealed during the release of festive season road crash statistics on Thursday, targets Section 65 of the Act, which currently allows for a small, permissible level of alcohol in a driver’s blood.
The goal is to enforce a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, widely championed as the only effective way to curb South Africa’s persistently high road fatality rate.
While reporting the country had recorded the lowest number of festive season crashes in five years, Minister Creecy starkly noted that the 1,427 deaths recorded over the period remained a “reason for national shame”.
Highlighting the grim role of reckless driver behaviour, she pinpointed that “speeding and drunk driving remain the major cause of road accidents”.
Of the 173,000 drivers tested for alcohol influence during the festive season, 8,561 tested positive and were arrested — a shocking 144% increase in drunken driving arrests from the previous year.
The highest alcohol reading was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, where a motorist was found to be 14 times over the current legal limit.
The minister said South Africa’s driving and drinking policy was formulated many years ago, and it is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and then drive.
“The time has come for us to amend the law so that we have a clear-cut, easy-to-understand, and unambiguous policy that says drinking and driving are not allowed. A law that allows drivers to drink a certain amount and then get behind the wheel of a car must be scrapped,” said Creecy.
Caro Smit, founder and director of South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD), welcomed the news emphatically.
Smit said the organisation is “100% behind a ‘zero’ blood alcohol content”.
According to Smit, the current policy is confusing and dangerous. “In South Africa, many people do not know what the legal limit is, what a unit comes to in breath or blood, and the elimination rates of alcohol,” she explained.
“They think if they don’t feel ‘drunk’ that they are safe to drive; meanwhile, any alcohol affects driving skills. Zero means zero. Clear and non-negotiable.”
Smit stressed the devastating impact of alcohol-related crashes, which she says are involved in up to 57% of all crashes and are a leading cause of death for young adults and economically active individuals.
“Too many families are shattered – these deaths and injuries often send people into poverty or further into poverty, and there is an enormous burden on our health system and economy,” she added.
Alida Venter, founder of non-profit organisation Drive More Safely, was equally vocal in her support, saying she was “totally ecstatic” about the minister’s announcement.
“In the 19 years that I’ve been a road safety activist, we have been fighting for this to happen so that there is absolutely zero tolerance on alcohol on the roads, because those are the biggest killers of our people on our roads,” Venter said.
The activist, who lost her son and daughter-in-law to drunk drivers, said the policy change is “long overdue”.
However, Venter noted that while the political will is strong, practical challenges must be addressed.
She raised the perennial issue of certain medications containing alcohol as a preservative, a challenge often cited as a reason against a complete ban.
“If proper research is done, these challenges can be overcome,” Venter insisted, adding: “I just think that homework needs to be done seriously on this, so that we don’t get caught up in court when they say that it is medication.”
Venter also pointed to the broader ecosystem of alcohol availability, suggesting that efforts to curb drunk driving need to look beyond the driver.
“Alcohol has got a much bigger picture… Liquor outlets are open on a Sunday. So it’s a big picture,” she observed.
She argued that limiting the business hours of alcohol outlets and addressing the ease of consumption at restaurants before driving home are part of the larger solution.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) strongly welcomed the plan, noting the tragic economic and social costs of alcohol-related road deaths.
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, stated: “This is a badly needed intervention to reduce our unacceptably high levels of drinking and driving, and the completely avoidable resulting loss of life.”
COSATU, which had previously backed a similar amendment that was rejected by the 6th Parliament, has pledged to “fully support it and petition Parliament to move with speed on such an Amendment Bill”.
Echoing the sentiment, the Public Servants Association (PSA) supported the review, calling the current death toll “not consoling as one person dying on the roads is one too many”.
The PSA’s statement highlighted the need for technology, suggesting motor vehicle manufacturers should be included in discussions to investigate “installing features for vehicles to assess the state of the driver to detect alcohol and fatigue levels”.
Despite the enthusiasm, road safety advocates caution that the legislative change must be accompanied by improved enforcement and judicial efficiency.
Venter lamented that court backlogs, often caused by blood sample testing taking “up to seven, eight months”, lead to cases being thrown out.
“I’ve always said that we will only start making a difference once the Department of Justice and the traffic authorities marry, when they start working together,” she concluded.
