New alcohol evidence centre to curb drunk driving
MARLBORO – The centre will comprise among others, a holding room, information room where dockets are kept, a safe and secured recording system.
As the festive season approaches, the City of Johannesburg launched the Alcohol Evidence Centre at the Marlboro Licensing and Testing Station on 22 November, in a bid to curtail drunk and driving.
The centre launched by former mayor Herman Mashaba, former MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun (under Mashaba’s tenure), Chief of JMPD David Tembe and attended by various stakeholders, is aimed at assisting Metro police officers to deal with cases of drunk and driving more effectively.
The centre will work hand in hand with the Evidential Breath Alcohol Test Instrument (Ebat), a refined breathalyser which was launched a year ago and sponsored by the AB Inbev foundation. According to the JMPD performance report, cases of drunk and driving escalated from 790 in July to 1 043 in September. Meanwhile, car crashes have gone up from 37 in July to 47 in October and claiming the lives of about 44 people last month only.
“Disconcertingly, arrests made from drunk and driving reveal that our motorists remain stubborn and continue to put the lives of other at risk. As the JMPD launches its festive season safety campaign, we encourage them to be uncompromising with brazen motorists who continue to flout the law by driving under the influence,” said Sun.
Mashaba said he was happy to be part of the launch where the City has been joined by the private sector to ensure that driving under the influence of alcohol was dealt with. “If we want to grow the economy, we must respect the rule of law and capacitate the law enforcement agencies. People must know that driving on our streets under the influence of alcohol is totally unacceptable. This will send a strong message to residents that you can drink, no matter who you are, JMPD will be there 24/7 to arrest you,” said Mashaba.
AB Inbev foundation board member Tembela Kulu said statistics revealed that alcohol abuse causes almost 5 per cent of global diseases which was a major problem and risk for communicable diseases. “That is the reason it is important for us as an organisation to get involved in such programmes. It is also our responsibility to make sure that there is elimination of drunk and driving,” said Kulu.
The centre will comprise, among others, a holding room, information room where dockets are kept, a safe and secured recording system and will also have the presence of health workers.
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