TRANSPORT Minister Barbara Creecy has proposed scrapping the legal alcohol consumption limit in the country.

She made the comments at a press briefing last week discussing the Festive Season Road Safety Campaign.

According to the law, it is a criminal offence to exceed the limit of 0.05g/100ml concentration of alcohol in blood  for general drivers and 0.02g/100ml blood for professional drivers.

The move has been welcomed by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport and the organisation South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD).

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According to Creecy, stats have shown that speeding and drunk driving remain the major cause of road accidents in the country.

“Our driving and drinking policy was formulated almost 30 years ago. In today’s South Africa it is totally unacceptable that there is a law that allows people to drink and then drive. I have never understood this. I cannot explain this to anyone who has lost a parent, a brother, a sister, a child as a result of a road accident,” Creecy said.

“The time has come for us to amend the law so we have a clear-cut, easy to understand and unambiguous policy that says drinking and driving is not allowed. A law that allows drivers to drink a certain amount and get behind the wheel of a car must be scrapped.”

Part of the minister’s comments come from the stats of the 2025/26 festive season showing an increase of drivers under the influence of alcohol.

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“A total of 173 695 drivers were tested for driving under the influence of alcohol and 8 561 of these tested positive, a 144% increase on the same period last year. The highest alcohol reading was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal where one motorist recorded breath alcohol content 14 times above the legal alcohol limit,” she said.

Government said it hopes to achieve a 50% reduction in accidents and fatalities by 2030.

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