Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says she wants to introduce a ban on drinking alcoholic beverages while driving through the amendment of the existing road regulations.
Creecy announced this during a media briefing on Thursday in Pretoria, where she presented preliminary road safety statistics for the 2025/2026 festive season.
“It is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and drive. I have never understood it. The time has come for us to amend the law, an easy-to-understand and unambiguous policy that drinking and driving is not allowed.”
Creecy said that despite a 5% drop in fatalities, drunk driving arrests increased by 144%.
According to Creecy, speeding and drunk driving are significant causes of crashes.
“This year, a total of 1,427 fatalities were recorded from 1,172 crashes during the festive season.”
Five provinces reported reductions in fatalities, the highest drop recorded by the Eastern Cape.
“Four provinces: Gauteng, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape, recorded increases in fatalities. There was a notable increase in fatalities from the 15th to the 28th of December.
The Eastern Cape recorded 52 fatalities in 45 crashes, Limpopo 40 deaths in 34 crashes, North West 34 deaths in 28 crashes and the Northern Cape 31 deaths in 20 crashes.
With Free State recording a 67.2% decrease in fatalities
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