“Drunk Driving Continues to Place Unnecessary Strain on City Resources and Endanger Innocent Road Users”
The South African reports:
“Cape Town’s enforcement agencies made 338 arrests and issued nearly 65,000 fines over the past week, with drunk driving once again emerging as a major concern during the long weekend.
“According to the City of Cape Town, a total of 64,987 fines were issued across various traffic and by-law offences, while 108 motorists were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol – one of the highest weekly drunk-driving figures recorded so far this year.”
Assessment
Alcohol-impaired driving is one of the most visible consequences of South Africa’s inadequate alcohol policy environment. The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) estimates that 27% of road fatalities in South Africa are linked to alcohol – approximately 3,200 of the 11,883 road deaths recorded in 2023. The Cape Town long-weekend data – 108 arrests alongside 1,820 emergency incidents, including 109 physical assaults, 63 domestic violence cases, and 72 motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents – illustrates the scale of the problem at the local level.
The government has repeatedly acknowledged the crisis. In January 2026, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced that the government would move to a zero BAC limit for all drivers, calling the current law that allows people to use alcohol and then drive “totally unacceptable.” The amendment process has begun, but the bill has not yet passed Parliament, and the current legal limit remains at 0.05%. A similar proposal was introduced in 2020 and stalled. President Ramaphosa has announced plans for improved alcohol laws on multiple occasions without follow-through. The pattern is consistent: promises at the national level, enforcement left to local authorities without the policy tools to match.
The gap extends beyond road safety. The 2026 budget delivered the alcohol industry’s preferred tax outcome – inflation-only increases on excise duties – after a sustained lobbying campaign that centred on illicit trade fears. A civil society alliance has challenged the budget for failing to use alcohol taxation as a tool to prevent and reduce alcohol harm. Alcohol in South Africa remains cheap and widely available, and the regulatory reforms that would address the root causes – pricing, availability, marketing – continue to be announced but not delivered.