SOUTH AFRICA. – South African drivers could soon face a zero-alcohol limit if proposed amendments to the country's road traffic legislation are accepted.
Barbara Creecy, transport minister, wants to amend article 65 of the national road traffic act to remove the current legal alcohol limits for drivers. The aim is to establish a clear rule that drivers may not use any alcohol before they drive. The current law stipulates that ordinary drivers may not exceed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres or a breath alcohol concentration of 0.24 milligrams per 1 000 millilitres. For professional drivers the limits are lower, namely 0.02 grams per 100 millilitres of blood and 0.10 milligrams per 1 000 millilitres of breath. Creecy said earlier this year that the current policy is almost 30 years old and that it is no longer acceptable for legislation to permit a certain amount of alcohol before someone drives.
Meanwhile, support has been expressed by the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport for the consideration of a complete ban on alcohol use by drivers. The proposed change does not mean, however, that the zero-alcohol limit is already law. The government must first complete the necessary legislative process before any new limit can take effect.
Sources: SAnews, Government of South Africa, Parliament of South Africa
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
