DURBAN - Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Transport has thrown its weight behind the proposal of an outright ban on drinking and driving.
Chairperson Donald Selamolela says Transport Minister Barbara Creecy must now initiate the process of drafting a Bill.
Creecy has announced that the department would amend the National Road Traffic Act
to prohibit any alcohol consumption for drivers.
“We have done almost everything in terms of putting laws in place, but alcohol and reckless driver behaviour continue to be at the core of causing accidents on our roads," Selamolela said.
"We are losing lives, and families are losing breadwinners. The economy is losing skills and capable people.”
Selamolela was speaking to eNCA following a horrific accident on Thursday morning in the Isipingo area in Durban where 11 people died.
He said government no longer affords the pressure caused by road crashes.
Selamolela said:
“At the core of is alcohol. We cannot afford it any further."
The current legal drink-driving limit is a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres of blood, or 0.24 milligrams per 1000 millilitres of breath, for general drivers, with a stricter limit of 0.02g/100ml (0.10mg/1000ml breath) for professional drivers.
He said that through an executive process, the minister would initiate a process of a bill which would be presented to Cabinet.
“When the bill has been passed by Cabinet, it will then be sent to Parliament, and we will conduct consultations and public hearings," he said.
"We are prepared to go to the length and breadth of this country to persuade our people to support this bill; it is the only way we’ll be able to save them.”
Selamolela said they have implored Creecy to start the process.