{"id":848738,"date":"2026-01-25T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=848738"},"modified":"2026-01-25T13:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T11:01:10","slug":"the-end-of-legal-alcohol-limits-when-driving-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/848738\/the-end-of-legal-alcohol-limits-when-driving-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of legal alcohol limits when driving in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Parliament\u2019s Portfolio Committee on Transport has endorsed the Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy\u2019s plans for a total ban on drinking and driving in South Africa, calling for the law to be implemented by the Easter holiday period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s current laws permit blood alcohol levels of less than 0.05g\/100 ml for motorists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a particularly deadly festive season on South African roads, Creecy said this needs to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA total of 173,000 drivers were tested for being under the influence of alcohol. 8,561 of these tested positive and were arrested,\u201d said Creecy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis represents a 144% increase in the number of arrests for drunken driving since the previous year,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creecy said that the drunk driving policy was formulated many years ago and in today\u2019s South Africa, it is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have never understood this. I cannot explain this to anyone who has lost a parent, a brother, a sister, a child, as a result of a road accident,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe time has come for us to amend the law so that we have a clear-cut, unambiguous policy that says drinking and driving is not allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department announced that it will, therefore, begin amending section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act to implement a zero-tolerance policy for drinking and driving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport has supported the minister\u2019s decision, noting the 1,427 road fatalities during the festive season and the need to do more to prevent further deaths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe committee supports the consideration of a total ban on alcohol use on the roads. It is clear now that decisive action is required,\u201d said Committee chairperson Donald Selamolela. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOtherwise, during the Easter period in three months, high fatality figures are likely to persist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee said that the necessary legislation needs to be implemented with urgency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drunk drivers to be permanently banned from getting a licence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Photo: Arrive Alive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Going one step further than Creecy, the committee added that drivers found to have ingested any alcohol before getting behind the wheel should face more severe punishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTransgressing drivers should face stiff sanctions, including being banned from ever having a license to drive. Drunk driving remains a serious and dangerous offence,\u201d the Chairperson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the committee recommended placing more police officers on the roads to monitor driver behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe roads have increasingly become sites of non-compliance with traffic laws because drivers know police will look away. That must come to an end,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selamolela said that any delay in acting on this matter will risk further deaths that could have been easily avoided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to reverse the perception that roads are death traps and anyone can behave however they like,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister\u2019s announcement was also supported by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which said that 40% of South Africa\u2019s 14,000 annual deaths on the road have been linked to alcohol consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

COSATU recalled that a total ban on drinking and driving was proposed in the 6th administration, but was rejected in 2022. The organisation said this is a real shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa\u2019s unhealthy relationship with alcohol is a major factor in our painful levels of road carnage. There is a place for responsible consumption of alcohol within society,\u201d COSATU said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was first published by Newsday and was republished with permission. Read the original here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parliament\u2019s Portfolio Committee on Transport\u00a0has endorsed plans for a total ban on drinking and driving in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":822537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[22316,8215],"class_list":["post-848738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-drunk-driving","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848739,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848738\/revisions\/848739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}