In the early hours of Saturday morning, 22 December, I was awoken by a loud bang – the unmistakable sound of a car crash.
Upon investigation I found that a taxi driver had lost control of his vehicle and ploughed onto the pavement, causing extensive damage to property belonging to the municipality and myself.
The taxi driver and his female companion (who appeared to be swigging alcohol out of a bottle) were spilling out of the severely damaged vehicle. I called our excellent private security company who arrived within minutes and, with their usual efficiency, secured the accident scene and made sure that the taxi driver, who reeked of alcohol, did not flee.
Upon closer inspection, the security officers found that the interior of the taxi was strewn with empty liquor bottles. The security officers called the police because it was very clear that the taxi driver had managed to get his taxi into that position by consuming copious amounts of alcoholic liquid refreshments – a fact he did not try to conceal.
When the police finally arrived, we briefed them regarding the situation and were absolutely shocked when they said that they were not going to arrest the taxi driver because they had not seen him behind the wheel. How the hell did they think he got his taxi into that position? At no point did the taxi driver even try to deny that he had been driving the vehicle while inebriated. When I questioned their refusal to arrest the driver, their abrupt answer was that they were ‘following procedure’.
I cannot believe that they can only be arrested if they are found physically sitting behind the steering wheel. The police officers filled in an accident report form and announced that their ‘job here was done’ and the matter was between myself and the taxi driver. They left the scene knowing full well that the intoxicated taxi driver was about to get back into his smashed, barely going vehicle and drive off on buckled rims (tyres had blown), into the night, putting other road users’ lives at risk.
What kind of ‘procedure’ allows an obviously intoxicated person to escape arrest and be allowed to get back into a shockingly unroadworthy vehicle after causing an accident? I respectfully request an explanation and clarification from the Krugersdorp Police station commander with regards to this ‘procedure’ that these two police officers followed which resulted in a drunk driver getting off scot-free.
I was under the impression that law enforcement was making a concerted effort to clamp down on drunk drivers this festive season.
If these two police officers were indeed ‘following procedure’ then the laws and procedures are severely flawed and inadequate.
