Warning to SA's drunk drivers:

A new strategy to combat the sky-high number of drunk drivers on South Africa's roads will be tested for the first time this Easter after a disastrous festive season four months ago, the Department of Transport has announced.

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According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), there was a 30% increase in vehicle accidents caused by drunk driving during the 2024/25 festive season. This, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy told Parliament in February, had forced the department to request a review of strategies to clamp down on those driving under the influence.

As a result, a new plan would be put to the test during this Easter holiday period, traditionally the busiest time on the roads after the December holiday season.

"The effort to strengthen enforcement and introduce harsher penalties for serious offences includes three critical focus areas," Creecy said.

The bigger problem is that South Africa has very weak liquor legislation.

The whole culture of drinking and driving is not discouraged. The alcohol management system is completely dysfunctional

"The RTMC, through the technical committee for standards and procedures, which is comprised of representatives from the private sector, road traffic authorities, law enforcement instruments and directors of public prosecutions from the different provinces, has revised the current alcohol evidential prosecutorial standards to strengthen prosecution of alleged drunken drivers.

"This is to close all loopholes in the standard operation of arrests, of offenders for drunken driving, by traffic officers."

Transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi did not respond to a request to clarify which loopholes Creecy was referring to. Criminal law attorney Milton de la Harpe, who specialises in drunk driving cases, told Daily Maverick his firm had not received information about any big changes in legal procedures to clamp down on drivers caught under the influence of alcohol.