Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport has endorsed a proposal for a complete ban on drinking and driving, urging Transport Minister Barbara Creecy to initiate the drafting of legislation.
Chairperson Donald Selamolela said that despite existing road safety laws, alcohol and reckless driving remain major contributors to accidents. “We are losing lives, families are losing breadwinners, and the economy is losing skills and capable people,” he said, following Thursday’s tragic crash in Isipingo, Durban, which claimed 11 lives.
Selamolela stressed that alcohol lies at the heart of road fatalities. “We cannot afford it any further,” he said.
Under current law, the legal limit for drivers is a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.05g per 100ml of blood (0.24mg/1000ml breath), with a stricter 0.02g/100ml limit (0.10mg/1000ml breath) for professional drivers. The proposed ban would see any alcohol consumption by drivers prohibited.
Selamolela explained that the minister would submit the draft bill to Cabinet, after which it would go to Parliament for consultations and public hearings. “We are prepared to go to the length and breadth of this country to persuade our people to support this bill; it is the only way we’ll be able to save them,” he said.
The committee has formally urged Creecy to begin the process immediately.