A strict zero blood-alcohol limit for motorists may be introduced in South Africa as the government steps up its fight against drunk driving amid thousands of arrests, and more than 6 000 road deaths already recorded this year.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said the government was pursuing amendments to Section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act and aimed for Cabinet approval by the end of 2026.
The move comes as more than 18,000 people were arrested for drunken driving between March and the end of August, accounting for about a third of all traffic arrests during the period.Speaking at the Road Safety Practitioners’ Colloquium in Ekurhuleni this week, Creecy said South Africa could no longer accept the scale of carnage on its roads as normal.She said government had set a target of halving annual road fatalities by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The latest figures show that 6,457 people died on South African roads between January 1 and August 23, although this represents a 9% reduction compared with the same period last year.But the burden remains particularly heavy in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which together accounted for more than a third of all road fatalities during the first eight months of the year. The Western Cape, meanwhile, continues to record significant numbers of motorists being caught driving under the influence, underscoring that alcohol-fuelled road deaths remain a national problem.
During the Easter long weekend, the Road Traffic Management Corporation recorded its second-lowest number of crashes and fatalities in four years. Compared with the 2024 peak, crashes fell by 24% and fatalities by 39%.
Recent Comments