Transport Minister Wants End to Drinking and Driving, Calls for Legal Alcohol Limit to Be Scrapped
- Transport Minister Barbara Creecy presented the 2025/26 festive season road safety stats on 15 January 2026
- The minister also noted that speeding and drunk driving remained the major causes of road accidents in the country
- Creecy indicated that the Department of Transport had plans to address the current legal blood alcohol limit
Source: Getty Images
Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.
GAUTENG – Transport Minister Barbara Creecy wants drinking and driving to be a thing of the past.
The minister made the comments during a special press briefing on 15 January 2026 in Thswane, where she presented the 2025/26 festive season road safety stats.
During her presentation, Creecy noted that speeding and drunk driving remained the major causes of road accidents, saying that this needed to stop.
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Minister calls for end to legal alcohol limit
The minister noted that the driving and drinking policy was formulated almost 30 years ago, but it needed to be changed. She said that the law, which allowed drivers to drink a certain amount and still get behind the wheel of a car, must be scrapped. The legal blood alcohol limit in South Africa is currently 0.05 g of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.
“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,” the minister stated.
She said that the time had come for the law to be amended, saying that the Department of Transport would begin an amendment to section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act.
Source: Getty Images
Minister unveils festive season stats
The minister also addressed the festive season stats, as compared to last year. She noted that there was a five per cent reduction in both fatalities and crashes during this year’s festive season, compared to the same period the previous year. Last year, the DoT also identified 20 hotspots where frequent accidents take place, ahead of the festive season.
“This year, a total of 1,427 fatalities were recorded from 1,172 crashes this year. The data shows that the 2025/26 festive season recorded the lowest number of crashes in five years, and the same number of fatalities as in the 2023/24 festive season,” she said.
Creecy added that five provinces reported reductions in fatalities, with the Eastern Cape recording the highest reduction, while Gauteng, Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape recorded increases in fatalities.
Fatal accidents increased after 15 December
The minister noted that the number of crashes and fatalities increased during the 15th to 28th December 2025, saying that it contributed to more than forty per cent of the total. Most of the crashes happened over the weekend between 7 pm and 9 pm and between midnight and 1 am.
The minister also stated that small motor cars contributed to 55% of the total accidents, adding that minibus taxis and trucks were involved in only seven per cent and six per cent of crashes, respectively. This is a far departure from last year's stats, when taxis were involved in 53% of festive season major accidents. The
No new driver's licence laws for seniors
Briefly News reported that there are no new or stricter licence requirements for South African drivers over 70.
The Department of Transport confirmed that only the standard eye test is required for all licence renewals.
Officials warn the public to ignore misinformation, as some online reports incorrectly reference rules from other countries.
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Source: Briefly News
