Obey the law or spend festive season behind bars, warns NMBM – NMBM

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has warned residents and holiday makers to
enjoy their festive season strictly within the confines of the law, failing
which they will spend their precious family time behind bars.

This warning was made by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor,
Cllr Retief Odendaal, during the official launch of the City’s Festive Season
Safety Programme on the M4 Highway on Monday, 12 December 2022.

With this year’s focus being on road safety and crime prevention, the City has
beefed up its Metro Police, Security Services and Traffic law enforcement.

At this year’s Festive Season Safety Progeamme the City partnered with
stakeholders including the South African Breweries, SA Liquor Board and Eastern
Cape Traffic Services to decrease alcohol related criminal activities and road
accidents.

Mayor Odendaal said the City was grateful for the donation of two mobile
alcohol evidence centre trucks as it would improve the City’s law enforcement
work.

“SA Breweries has made a substantial donation to the City at a substantial
amount, they believe that people that make consume their beverages must also be
responsible. We have a comprehensive safety plan for the season, and I want to
make it very clear that we are going to have a lot of roving roadblocks, zero
tolerance stance against anyone who drinks and drive.

“We want to ask people to be responsible when they get behind the steering
wheel. We have seen in the City how we have lost many lives due to the
irresponsible actions of community members. Do not destroy your future by
taking a chance. We will not only be testing drivers for drinking and driving
but we will be checking overall condition of vehicles to make sure that
lawlessness comes to an end. Please do not take chances, we will be strict,”
said Mayor Odendaal.

During the roadblock, a total of 171 traffic offences were recorded, with 55
for unlicenced drivers, 49 for unlicenced motor vehicles, 12 number plate
offences, 14 defective tyres, one arrest for driving under the influence of
liquor.

 SAB regional corporate affairs manager, Tinumzi Lubelwana said by
donating the trucks, they wanted to reduce road accidents that are alcohol
related by 10% in the country by 2025.

“The partnership with Nelson Mandela Bay Metro has been standing for the past
five years. Our first investment was an alcohol evidence centre in one of their
stations. We then realized that we needed a mobile alcohol evidence centre and
the City is quite huge. The mobile trucks will come in handy as motorists tend
to warn each other once they come across a roadblock, but the good thing is
that the mobile trucks can easy change locations. We have state of the art
machinery inside the trucks,” said Lubelwana.