Transport MEC is opposing the plan to lower the nationwide drink-driving limit to zero.
|||Cape Town - A rift is developing between the Western Cape and national ministries of transport over the latter’s new and controversial strategy to fight drinking and driving.
In a presentation to the inter-ministerial committee on substance abuse, the national Ministry of Transport put forward the case for lowering the legal blood-alcohol level to zero.
This would see drivers who have had a single sip of beer face potential arrest and prosecution.
The cabinet established the inter-ministerial committee in 2010 and it is headed by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini. It will present a draft bill to cabinet which will include a proposed legislative ban on alcohol advertising and transport’s “zero limit” proposal.
“The inter-ministerial committee agreed with and accepted transport’s proposal. The majority of accidents that occur in South Africa are alcohol related, and the inter-ministerial committee feels a zero tolerance would help to curb this scourge,” said Lumka Oliphant, Dlamini’s spokeswoman.
But Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle is opposed to the measure and has written to the national minister to inform him of his concern.
NOT REALLY ENFORCEABLE
Carlisle argues the current turnaround time for blood tests and the lack of breathalysing at road blocks throughout the country (except by Western Cape and Metro Traffic) means the country does not have a structure in place to manage and enforce such a law.
“Also, virtually all of the countries with the best safety records – Britain, France, Germany, the US and Australia – have some sort of minimum legal alcohol level that can be tested for in drivers,” he said.
He proposed that more effort should instead be put into improving the turnaround time for blood results at state labs and behaviour-changing campaigns.
Carlisle said that enjoying alcohol “responsibly” was a big part of many South Africans’ lives. He did not agree in principal with a “campaign that attempted to forcibly drive alcohol out of our lives” and predicted that any such attempts would inevitably be “disastrous”.
Sitting somewhere between the two points of view is the Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa.
AA spokesman Gary Ronald agreed that the country did not have the infrastructure (in terms of alternative/public transport) to act as an incentive for people not to drive when they were still under the current legal limit of 0.05ml of alcohol in their blood.
He however gave credence to the Brazilian example – where “zero tolerance” legislation had apparently led to a 30 percent decline in crashes.
“If the same can be achieved in South Africa, we stand to save 2 000 lives each year. That is massively significant,” said Roland. -Cape Argus