Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa says South Africa should add the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy charged through fuel sales to the price of alcohol to address related road fatalities.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika following transport minister Barbara Creecy’s report on road fatalities over the festive season, Hlengwa said alcohol consumption directly contributed to the high number of fatal crashes.
Creecy revealed that 1,502 deaths occurred on South African roads over the festive season, representing a 5.3% year-on-year increase, or 70 more fatalities than last year.
She also revealed that more than 3,840 motorists were arrested for drunken driving.
“Alcohol consumption, drinking and walking, and drinking and driving have had a direct contribution to the escalation of the numbers to the extent to which we have seen,” said Hlengwa.
“People just have no due regard at all, even in the early hours of the morning or at 09:00 in the morning when you would expect that people would socialize and party in the afternoon.”
He said a deeper conversation on the consumption of alcohol is required in South Africa, not just to address road fatalities but also to tackle the “broader societal problem”.
Asked whether increasing the price of alcohol would be an effective means of addressing drinking and driving in South Africa, Hlengwa said it is best to “hit the pockets” of offenders.
“What we are looking at with the Minister is to say: when we roll out Aarto is to go beyond just the demerit point system, but to ensure that fines follow the perpetrators,” he said.
However, he added that a broader conversation is required regarding the pricing of alcohol and the levies that the South African government charges.
“Currently, you have a situation where the Road Accident Fund levy comes out of fuel sales,” said Hlengwa.
“I do not see anything wrong with us insisting, within the alcohol pricing system, a direct charge for the Road Accident Fund, among others.”
Road safety expert and Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield-Jones has wrote to Creecy when she expressed surprise that motorists were drunk driving and having accidents in the middle of the day during December.
“Why has that surprised you?” said Handfield-Jones.
He noted that research on drunk driving pressed the ANC government to reduce the maximum allowed blood alcohol concentration from 0.08% to 0.05% almost three decades ago — and it didn’t solve the problem.
“The question is why, and the answer is enforcement priorities,” Handfield-Jones said.
“Of the estimated 500,000 traffic notices issued a month, only about 3500 (0.007) are for alcohol.”
Rather than tackle a scourge like driving under the influence of alcohol, Handfield-Jones said that government was prioritizing revenue generation from fines.
Until the South African government begins prioritizing road safety over revenue, the country’s roads will continue to be a bloodbath.
“I know South Africans have become desensitized to our road safety crisis, but it’s the equivalent of a medium-sized airliner crashing with no survivors every day,” said Handfield-Jones.
“If the latter were happening, air safety would be a national emergency which would seize government with extreme urgency ahead of almost all other issues. I believe road safety deserves the same response.”
