Government plans to amend legislation on driving and drinking policy

Government plans to amend legislation on driving and drinking policy The Department of Transport will embark on a process to amend Section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) to scrap the legal alcohol consumption limit in the country. Currently, the law makes it a criminal offense to exceed the limit of 0.05g/100ml concentration of alcohol in blood or 0.24mg/1000ml breath for general drivers, and stricter limits of 0.02g/100ml blood or 0.10mg/1000ml breath for professional drivers. “Our driving and drinking policy was formulated almost 30 years ago. In today’s South Africa it is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and then drive. “The time has come for us to amend the law, so we have a clear-cut, easy to understand and unambiguous policy that says drinking and driving is not allowed. A law that allows drivers to drink a certain amount and get behind the wheel of a car must be scrapped,” Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy said on Thursday. The Minister made these remarks during a media briefing that she held with the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, to release the road safety report for the 2025/2026 festive season, which covers the period of 1 December until 11 January 2026. Read I Festive season stats show a 5% reduction in fatal crashes According to the preliminary data of the 2025/26 Festive Season Road Safety Campaign, a total of 173 695 drivers were tested for driving under the influence of alcohol and 8 561 of these tested positive. This is a 144% increase in the stats when compared to the same period last year. The data also shows a 5% reduction in both fatalities and crashes for this year’s festive season, compared to the same period in the previous year. “This year, a total of 1 427 fatalities were recorded from 1 172 crashes this year. The data shows that the 2025/26 festive season recorded the lowest number of crashes in five years, and the same number of fatalities as in 2023/24 festive season,” the Minister said. During this period, 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, 525 were arrested for excessive speeding. In addition, a downward trajectory in road crashes and fatalities was also observed in the annual statistics where preliminary data shows that the number of road collisions and deaths for the twelve-month period in 2025 are the lowest in five years. This period covers 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2025. “A total of 11 418 fatalities were recorded from 9 674 crashes in 2025 compared to 12 581 fatalities from 10 633 crashes in 2021. “Furthermore the 2025 crashes decreased by 6.4% when compared to 2024 and fatalities decreased by 6.2% in the same period,” the Minister said. - SAnews.gov.za nosihle Thu, 01/15/2026 - 11:50 60 views

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