The 7-day jail proposal for drunk driving slammed

A proposal by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) that would see drunk drivers spend seven days behind bars before they become eligible for bail has been slammed by the Justice Project South Africa, Northglen News reports.

Chairman of the JPSA, Howard Dembovsky, said such a proposal was ‘ludicrous’ and ‘unconstitutional’.

According to an article in the Sunday Times, plans by the RTMC include pushing to have all road traffic offences re-classified to ‘Schedule 5’ offences.

Speaking to the media, Dembovsky said they would even consider legal action if any amendment is made to the road traffic act.

Some readers had this to say about the proposal:

“In a recent document entitled ‘Revised Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020’ (signed off by Dr Blade Nzimande), one of the initiatives [of the RTMC] is to re-classify all road traffic offences to Schedule 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). There is no provision whatsoever, in any South African law which authorises the South African Police Service to detain a person for seven days prior to bringing that person before a court.

“In fact, the Criminal Procedure Act expressly prescribes that every arrested person must be brought before a court within 48 hours of their arrest and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa expressly forbids the apartheid era style of detention without trial that the RTMC clearly wishes to reintroduce into South African society,” he explained.

Dembovsky said the proposal should be treated with contempt.

He added the JPSA stood against drinking and driving and would welcome harsher sentences rather than a fine system which is also in place.