#PODCAST Zero tolerance drinking and driving proposal welcomed by SANCA

0:00Let's just go on 5 past 12 this Sunday afternoon. This is Newsbreak Talk. Welcome to the show. I'm your host for today, Chanel, Daniel. A lot to unpack on the program today and definitely one that I think will get you talking and interacting on our WhatsApp line with us this afternoon. As transport Minister Barbara Creci is pushing for a zero tolerance law, meaning no alcohol at all proposed through the National Road Traffic Amendment bill when it comes to driving. So basically no drinking and driving. South Africa's National Road Traffic Amendment bill aims to create a zero tolerance

1:01policy for drinking and driving by scrapping the current legal blood alcohol limit. We understand that to be 0.05 grams or 100 ml or normal drivers and 0.02 grams for professional drivers, making any miserable alcohol while driving illegal. However, we do understand from just covering these sorts of stories that previous attempts to pass this have had many challenges and the government recently recommitted to amending section 65 of the act for clear rule against any alcohol. And this with me and drivers would be a hundred percent sober with the goal of reducing road fatalities, though debates continue over practical implementation and potential unintended consequences. I really wonder what are your thoughts on this? A zero tolerance when it comes to drinking and driving. So basically a hundred percent sobriety. But before we unpack this, let's hear

2:02from the transport Minister Barbara Creci about what this proposal is basically based upon. She was speaking at a media briefing just days ago. Today we report on progress and preliminary results for the 2025 Festive Season Road Safety campaign and the overall road safety outcomes for the 2025 year as a whole. Preliminary data indicates a 5 percent reduction in both fatalities and crashes for this year's Festive Season compared with the same period in the previous year. This year a total of 1,427 fatalities were recorded from 1,172 crashes during the Festive Season. The data shows that the 25-26 Festive Season recorded the lowest

3:10number of crashes in five years and the same number of fatalities as the 23-24 season. Five provinces reported reductions in fatalities. The highest percentage reduction was recorded in the eastern Cape, followed by the free state. And I want to take this opportunity to congratulate those provinces in particular for the extremely hard work which they undertook during the Festive Season period. Four provinces namely Houting, Western Cape and Pumelanga and Northern Cape recorded increases in fatalities. There was a notable increase in fatalities from the 15th to the 28th of December. These two weeks contributed more than 40 percent to crashes

4:14and fatalities. And those confirms that Festive Season crashes and fatalities increase once travelers reach their final destination and are engaged in festivities rather than during the peak travel period. Many of the crashes happened between 7 pm and 9 pm in the evening. And the increase continued up until 1 am in the morning. These crashes involved collisions with pedestrians, hit and run which often is with a pedestrian, single vehicle overtones and head on collisions. The highest number of pedestrian fatalities were reported in the city of Cape Town,

5:15the city of Johannesburg, Ete Gwini and Kangala District Municipality and the city of Tzwani. The types of vehicles that contributed most to crashes were small motorcars, 55 percent, light delivery vehicles, another 20 percent and many bus vehicles and trucks were involved in only 7 percent and 6 percent of the accidents. Over the Festive Season our combined law enforcement officers conducted 1,632 roadblocks in which 1.8 million vehicles were stopped and checked. More than 450,000 traffic fines were issued and 525 arrests were executed for excessive speeding.

6:24Roadblocks and vehicle inspections targeted roadworthiness, driver fitness and licensing. A total of 173,000 drivers were tested for being under the influence of alcohol, 8,561 of these tested positive and were arrested. This represents a 144 percent increase in the number of arrests for drunken driving since the previous year. The highest alcohol reading was in Quasulinatal, where a motorist recorded breath alcohol content 14 times over the legal limit. The highest speedster was arrested in the northern cake

7:26where he clocked 220 kilometers an hour in a 120 zone. This year our officers arrested 89 motorists for attempting to bribe traffic officers to avoid an arrest or a fine. We completed 2,547 physical awareness and education programs across the country to influence driver, pedestrian and passenger behaviour, including visits to mass transit departure points, malls and other areas of mass convergence. As members of the media present here today know very well, we also had a massive community awareness and education campaign on radio, television and social media platforms.

8:28A downward trajectory in road crashes and fatalities has also been observed in our annual statistics with preliminary data showing that the number of road collisions and deaths for the 12 month period of 2025 is the lowest in five years. A total of 11,418 fatalities were recorded from 9,676 crashes in 2025. Furthermore, the 2025 crashes decreased by 6.4 percent when compared to 2024 and the fatalities decreased by 6.2 percent in the same period. I want to take this opportunity to thank our traffic officers at national, provincial and local

9:30government level, the South African police services and emergency services. For the sterling work you have done throughout the year and particularly during the phase of season to decrease the accident statistics. I also want to thank provincial MECs, MMCs for transport in municipalities, as well as traditional authorities, the organized bus, taxi and tracking industries, as well as a large number of civil society organisations for your hard work and dedication, which has enlarged measure contributed to the reduction for the first time in many years and set us on the path to achieving a target of harving road deaths by 2030. In the coming year, we will once again work with provinces and municipalities to improve

10:31consistent traffic law enforcement on our roads, particularly on weekends and public holidays. We will also increase our education and enforcement work targeting pedestrians in towns, cities and rural areas half of all road deaths are men, women and children walking alongside or crossing roads. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the media, the number caused by road accidents is in my view a reason for national change. All of those who have passed on over the last year, men, women and children were loved and cherished during their lives and today are solely missed by their families and friends.

11:32Death on our roads is not like old age. There is nothing inevitable or unavoidable about it. Analysis of reported crashes throughout the year confirms that human behaviour and particularly reckless driver behaviour remains the leading cause of road trauma, speeding and drunk driving. Remain the major cause of road accidents. I have already spoken today about how we will continue our enforcement and behaviour change operations, but we have to do more. Our driving and drinking policy was formulated many years ago. In today's South Africa it is totally unacceptable

12:40that there is a law that allows people to drink and then drive. I 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. 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. So we will begin an amendment to section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act.

13:48If nothing else, we owe this to the memory of the many fellow South Africans who have lost their lives on the roads. Well there we have transport minister Barbara Creezy having indicated that government is working toward a no-drinking and driving policy. A law that is aimed to be implemented in the country just following some of those statistics. It has definitely been a conversation on the table, but minister Creezy is really pushing for this now following the festive season for 2025. She did indicate there that 173,000 people were tested for being under the influence of alcohol while driving during roadblocks across the country during the festive season of those 8,561 tested positive and were arrested, which indicates an increase since

14:502024. She even highlighted there that there was one driver that was 14 times over the legal limit and you know we understand that legal limit to be 0.05 grams per 100 moles. Quite concerning isn't that 14 times over the legal limit and she says that these crashes on the roads are caused for national shame because a lot of people who have lost their loved ones due to these kinds of instances on the road and she mentioned analysis confirming that human error and reckless driving has led to a lot of road trauma. When it comes to speeding and drinking and driving these analysis shows that these are two of the main reasons for road fatalities. And I think just finally we heard they're talking about what we're discussing this afternoon,

15:55the drinking and driving policy in South Africa. Minister Creezy saying it's totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and drive and that it is time to amend the law to no drinking and no driving so zero tolerance towards that. I wonder what your thoughts are on this proposal and the work being made towards making this amendment to the law. You can share your views and opinions on our WhatsApp line and I'll definitely go through that and when we come back we just want to hear from some organizations that you know deal with alcohol consumption and anti alcohol consumption and what their thoughts are on this proposal. Just gone 1224 this is news break talk I'm Chanel Daniel if you've just joined us we're

17:03discussing the proposal by transport minister Barbara Creezy with regards to a zero tolerance towards alcohol consumption while one is driving or behind the wheel and like I mentioned earlier we want to unpack this with some of the organizations that play a key role in tackling drinking and driving and you know the after effects of alcohol and bringing awareness towards this. I want to just gain some reaction and unpack this so I am joined live on the line with Rudi Kanadu the reputic manager for the South African National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence good afternoon Rudi Kanadu welcome to news break talk good afternoon Chanel and thanks for having me it's a pleasure you know Rudi Kanadu leading up I know we had been speaking during the week and we were talking about you know minister Creezy pushing for zero tolerance drinking and driving law after festive crashes resulted in 1,427 debt not a small number at all and I think

18:11even one is one too many isn't it so you know like we've heard during her media briefing having a drinking limit when driving just doesn't make sense to her and I wonder what is the organization's reaction to this proposal by the minister and I think you know we would definitely support the minister a hundred percent you know coming from the back down the chicken background that I do I know alcohol is a highly mood-arching substance and behavior changing substance so a person who's under the influence definitely his perception and his reaction time is going to be affected. Having said that though you know I've also been leading there a few of the other comments that have been made about the minister's announcement and you know some of them are raising the issue of but if I use the mouthwash you know I could still take positive or if I use medication that has alcohol in it like a cosmic city has alcohol

19:16in it I could still take positive and and my response to that is that you know there are various options you can easily purchase mouthwashers without alcohol you can easily purchase cofnishes or ask your doctor to prescribe cofnishes that don't have alcohol in it. I just think you know if I was sitting in a vehicle and with my family my children and my husband and we had a driver who was under the influence even if it was 0.05 would I be totally comfortable and the answer is no. Yeah you know on that point you even mentioned it being mood-altering and we understand that alcohol certainly alters one's perception and even wondering can affect possibly their eye-hand coordination and in the country the current legal alcohol limit you know I've

20:20been saying this is 0.05 grams per 100 moles of blood for normal drivers and 0.02 grams or 100 moles for professional drivers. However Radika motorists don't seem to be abiding by this currently because we've seen a total of 173,000 drivers tested for drunk driving over 8,500 and I think it's 61 tested positive and were arrested showing quite an increase and we also saw that there was one driver that exceeded the limit by 14 times. Considering this behavior do you think banning alcohol consumption has the potential to reduce arrests or could it lead to more arrests because of a suggestive lack of accountability of motorists and I'm basically asking do you think that motorists even care? It's question will be more of a detergent you know 0.05 in my mind

21:24seems to leave a little bit of a great area and I think in many people if they're out having dinner for example you know there's a question is a glass of wine will I be over the limit? No the limit two glasses of wine am I allowed a beer and so on and I think you know 0.0 is going 0 tolerance is a much much a theater way to go then having a little percentage allowing for that little percentage. Well I just want to make the point as well that you know in as much as there is a great emphasis on drunken driving in the driving and the interest of alcohol at our facility we see yes the presence of alcohol but oftentimes alcohol is not the main substance of abuse. There's you know there's also various drugs that are available on our market and you know there's substance like crack which are highly mood ulging and certainly will also your perception

22:28this crack is wounder this tech with mandrax and certainly the the people who present for pure pure alcoholism you know in minority we have more people who are presenting for polysubstance use and alcohol is just you know one of those substances and I think in a maybe to do something that the road traffic law enforcement need to think about apart from breathalyzing maybe you know doing urine case which is what we use at our facility. No it definitely sounds like a broader issue it's not just drinking you know that you've just mentioned and I think during the festive season and on our show recently we were actually talking about it that during the festive season you feel so much safer because there's so much of police presence and as much as roadblocks might be an inconvenience you know because of traffic etc but there is this regulation

23:29that's taking place and you can see the offices out and doing their jobs but sometimes during the year we're not seeing as much and I think those are valid points that you are making when it comes to they're needing to be more testing outside of drinking and driving so it's a broader issue but I wonder from your work considering the alcohol and now we can even factor in drugs what are some of those risks that are associated with drinking and driving or you know indulging in a drug and then going behind the wheel. Well you know the most obvious one is the altered perception the hand-eye for ordination the also you know you tend to your inhibitions tend to be down when you are under the influence and then also you know people tend to take more risks with peak of gut damage and things that they wouldn't normally do is they will completely clean and sober. Talking about things that you won't do when you are sober

24:34and this might be an assumption but I think there are instances when there are people who are under the influence of alcohol and so decide you know what they want to be but risky and they want to speed etc and I want to use an example this is not necessarily the reason behind this incident but we're talking on a broader scale there was the fact that the highest speed stood during the festive season was arrested in the Northern Cape for clocking 220 kilometers per hour in 120 kilometers per hour zone you know that's that's really excessive speeding. What do you think about having this total ban on alcohol when driving do you think it could also help in reducing speeding and this reckless behavior? Well it's powerful of course you know like I was saying you tend to take more risks because you filled with this you know the sense of a false sense of bravado and that's how it when you are under the influence but it doesn't take away from the

25:40fact that even you know those who are completely clean and sober do take those risks as well we have bleached those but I think more so if you are under the influence because your inhibitions are down and you know there's a greater chance of you taking risks that you wouldn't normally take when you clean and sober. I think if these amendments are made how do you think it should be rolled out in terms of you know penalties rest and the like? Well you know in terms of penalties I think we're enforcing them absolutely and and higher punishment just paying a fine I don't think is enough. A few years ago we used to have an alcohol school and I'm not sure if the courts still still provide that within the other organization but I know thankors and organizations used to provide a school for those people who have been arrested I think it would be on the

26:45second offense for driving under the influence you know that brings me to the other point education is so important in this day and age you would be amazed at how much of ignorance it is about addiction so I think you know education is important as well. You're talking about you know education if this proposal is you know if this is something that's passed what role do you think the motorists and people have in the implementation because as much as they can be laws restricting they still need to be citizens who are abiding isn't it? Absolutely you know and one of the comments that was made was as I was scrolling on the internet was that people who break the law are going to break the law anyway whether the the mischanges or not and here again you know education becomes so important just highlighting the dangers of using a mood

27:53not only alcohol any substance it becomes so important. It's been such a pleasure having you on the show but unfortunately we have to just end our conversation there but thank you so much Rudika for your time we really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me on. That was Rudika 92 therapeutic manager for the South African National Council on alcoholism and drug dependence. Newsbreak Lotus FM powered by S.A.B.C news