Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Traffic Services took to the streets this morning educating and testing alcohol levels in drivers at Gqeberha’s major taxi ranks as the Metro launched a new road safety programme which seeks to deal with the drinking and driving problem within NMB.
This comes after the Metro’s successful Transport Month programme in October which exposed a drinking and driving problem after a total of 131 arrests were made in one month. NMBM Safety and Security Mayoral Committee Member, Cllr Stag Mitchell said the statistics indicated a concerning increase when compared to the 105 drinking and driving arrests made during October 2022.
In an effort to change the behaviour of drivers, the Metro today launched the self-test breathalyser programme as one of the strategies to be used to encourage responsible and safe driving to minimise accidents and save lives. The programme was launched at the Terminus and Njoli taxi ranks in Gqeberha.
MMC Mitchell said: “The statistics are worrying to all of us, we continue to do law enforcement but every Monday our traffic infrastructure is destroyed by drunk drivers. These high drunk-driving arrests do not excite us, in fact they worry us as it means that drivers do not take this issue seriously. We will be happy once we arrest five drunk drivers per month, that will mean people are adhering to the rules of the road.”
“By implementing this programme, we are partnering with all stakeholders and giving back the responsibility of road safety to the drivers. Drivers must test themselves and hold themselves accountable if they are above the limit. If you are drunk, call an Uber, call a sober friend to take you home. Do not drink and drive, you are putting your own life and other people’s lives in danger.”
Stakeholders including the Eastern Cape Department of Transport and taxi associations operating in NMBM supported the programme.
EC Department of Transport, Deputy Director for Provincial Traffic Law Enforcement, Charles Bramwell said the programme would play a significant role in empowering drivers to take informed decisions.
“We call on NMB drivers to welcome the initiative and let us all work together to save lives. Going into the Festive Season of December 2023 and January 2024 we already know that road traffic fatalities are amongst the main causes of death on the roads during this period. This results in serious social and economic costs for the country and other consequences include the loss of family members who are bread winners and leave behind traumatised families,” Bramwell said.
PEDITA’s Thandi Kama said: “We wish to have these breathalysers in our taxi ranks too. We are very happy about this new initiative. As taxi owners we have a problem of drivers taking our vehicles and being involved in accidents while they are drunk. As the taxi associations we welcome the move.”
NMBM will roll the programme across the Metro with a special focus on distributing the breathalysers at taxi ranks, churches, taverns and nightclubs among other places.
NMB Communications
Latest posts by NMB Communications (see all)
- Join The Celebration - 26 February 2025
- 6 Municipal Employees Supended - 15 January 2025
- Fishwater Flats Wastewater Treatment Plant Work Progressing Well - 10 January 2025
- Kliprand Protest Brings Action - 7 January 2025
- Mayor Tells Us Why We Had a Successful Festive Season in Nelson Mandela Bay - 6 January 2025
