Newcastle officers arrest 38 motorists for drunk driving
The offenders included a 'finance mastermind' and a ‘beautiful birthday girl’.
38 motorists found themselves behind bars over the weekend after being caught driving under the influence in Newcastle.
24 of the arrests were made on Saturday night (October 3) alone.
This, according to MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma, included a motorist who offered the officers an ‘interest-free loan’ of up to R500,000 in exchange for his release.
“Another one was caught alerting his fellow motorists by using a cellphone while driving,” said Duma.
“Regulation 308A of the National Road Traffic Act bans holding a mobile or communication device in your hands or against your body while driving. This includes being stopped at a roadblock with the engine running,” said Duma.
Drivers from various professions arrested
On Friday evening, Duma said officers arrested two foreign nationals whose documents were being subjected to further investigation to establish their authenticity.
“One female motorist, who accused law enforcement officers of messing up her birthday and demanded that I should be informed of her big day, was instead showered with a birthday song by Road Traffic Inspectorate before her detention,” Duma quipped.
In addition, a driver for a traditional leader (Inkosi) was arrested after being found to be 8.3 times over the legal limit.
Those arrested included:
- One lawyer’s assistant.
- Two teachers.
- Two nurses.
- One bank consultant, who claimed to be a finance mastermind and offered Road Traffic Inspectorate officers interest-free loans of up to R500,000.
- One finance manager.
- Four foreign nationals.
- One merchandiser.
- One raw material technician.
- One truck driver.
- One fleet manager.
- One technician.
- One UKZN student.
- Two pensioners.
- One administration clerk, described by Duma as a ‘beautiful birthday girl’.
- Two self-employed people.
- One co-ordinator at Majuba District Municipality.
- One driver for a traditional leader (Inkosi), who was found to be 8.3 times over the legal limit.
- One general worker.
- One security guard.
- One mine worker.
Duma warns of the dangers
“We remind members of the public this Transport Month that excessive drinking and driving severely degrades a driver’s mental process of thinking, understanding and reacting. It is for these reasons that motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol are likely to be involved in fatal road accidents,” said Duma.
Duma concluded that, “These motorists were removed from our road networks before they could kill innocent people and in the process, create orphans and widows.”
The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Newcastle Advertiser, a sold newspaper distributed in the Newcastle area. Please follow us on Youtube and feel free to like, comment, and subscribe. For more local news, visit our webpage, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and follow us on our WhatsApp Channel
