A school principal, an attorney, a teacher and a police officer are among the thousands of people arrested for drunk driving this festive season, as traffic police clamp down. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has recorded a 125% increase in drunk-driving arrests compared with the 2024 festive season, with more than 4,000 drivers arrested by Christmas. But the high number of arrests is a good thing, according to civil action group the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which said this could be due to high-visibility policing.
“There is more active policing, and they are catching people. We also need to compare how many roadblocks were conducted this year as compared to last year. If there is an increase in roadblocks, there will be an increase in arrests,” said Outa’s Wayne Duvenhage.
“I worry that we have a nation that is resistant to the law and the rules of the road, and over many years there hasn’t been enough visible policing. Perhaps this is the start of a good thing. Police should be visible all year round and not just four weeks a year.” According to the DG Murray Trust’s alcohol reduction campaign Rethink Your Drink, spending on alcohol nearly tripled in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, with drinkers spending more than R1bn a day on alcohol sales.
Read Full Article on TimesLIVE
[paywall]
Campaign manager Kashifa Ancer said South Africans spend R150bn a year on alcohol. Citing market researcher Trade Intelligence, Ancer said that on average, South Africans spend R415m a day on alcohol. RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said traffic officers had developed a zero-tolerance, harsher attitude towards bribery and drunken driving.
Officers would maintain high visibility on the roads, as high traffic volumes were expected as the festive holidays drew to a close. The province said 2,900 people had been arrested for drunk driving in the province since August 15. Preliminary records report 207 fatalities this festive season since December 1, a decrease from the 237 recorded during the same time in 2024 in the province.
The number of accidents dropped 8%, from 203 in 2024 to 187 in the 2025 festive period so far. The main aim was to change driver behaviour, as it has been singled out as the primary contributor to road crashes. Drunken driving, speeding and noncompliance with the rules of the road are key major contributors to road fatalities A nurse from Richards Bay said hospitals had been surprisingly quiet during the holidays.
“Usually in Richards Bay, there would be a lot of drunk drivers on the road. When I arrived at work, even at the casualty, it was quiet and there were no patients except a sick two-year-old,” she said. KZN transport MECSiboniso Dumasaid the decrease in fatalities could be attributed to the successful execution of the #NenzaniLaEzweni Operation by the road traffic inspectorate, which focuses on mass arrests for drunk driving.
Among those arrested in Ladysmith on Friday night for drunk driving were two soldiers, a teacher, a taxi driver and an Algerian national, he said. In eManzimtoti an attorney, a police officer, a pharmacist, a school principal, a teacher, a pensioner and a security guard were among those taken into custody for drunk driving, also on Friday night.
[/paywall]
