On Friday, 22 November 2019, I had the pleasure of launching the new Alcohol Evidence Centre in Marlboro alongside the Executive Mayor, Cllr Herman Mashaba.
This is the second Alcohol Evidence Centre that has been launched in Johannesburg.
The Centre will be a central point for the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) and other law enforcement officers dealing with drunken driving in northern Johannesburg. Here, further testing will be done with the Evidential Breath Alcohol Test Instrument (EBAT), launched one year ago.
EBAT is a sophisticated breathalyser, the results of which can be attached to a docket and is admissible in court.
The JMPD will be better equipped to deal with the serious number of drunken driving incidents across the City every month.
Indeed, in the performance statistics released earlier this month JMPD revealed that 2 924 arrests were made for driving under the influence of alcohol in the first quarter of the 2019/20 financial year.
Disconcertingly, arrests made from drunk driving reveal that our motorists remain stubborn and continue to put the lives of others at risk. A total of 1,043 suspects were arrested in October for driving under the influence of alcohol – up from September’s 1,033.
The rise is more concerning when compared to July 2019 for instance, where 790 arrests were made for drunk driving then. Furthermore, the Accident Unit recorded 47 crashes in October, which resulted in the deaths of 25 pedestrians, 19 drivers or passengers, and one cyclist on our roads.
As the JMPD launches its festive season safety campaign, we encourage them to be uncompromising with brazen motorists who continue to flout the law by driving under the influence.