As South Africa prepares for another long weekend on 24 April, authorities are once again confronting a familiar and deadly reality on the country’s roads, the persistent danger of drinking and driving.
It is revealed that while the recent Easter enforcement data points to improved visibility and stronger policing efforts, it also underscores a harder truth: gains in road safety remain fragile, and the risk of preventable tragedies is far from over.
This concern is heightened as South Africans prepare for a long weekend marked by increased travel, social gatherings, and higher exposure to alcohol-related driving risks.
AWARE.org a non-profit organization focused on reducing alcohol-related harm says the data shows that while enforcement is making an impact, long-term change depends on shifting how people think about responsibility on the road.
“When we say ‘human error’, we make road deaths sound inevitable. We remove intention from the equation,” said Mokebe Thulo, Chief Executive Officer at AWARE.org
“Driving under the influence is not an error. It is a decision, and decisions can be changed.”
Thulo added that while road fatalities are showing signs of decline, the progress remains fragile without sustained behavioural change.
“Our Never Alone campaign is built on the idea that no journey happens in isolation, and every road decision has consequences beyond the driver,” she said.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), drunk driving arrests increased by 39% over the Easter weekend, reflecting a far more visible and intensified enforcement operation nationwide
In KwaZulu-Natal alone, thousands of officers were deployed to high-risk routes as part of coordinated road safety efforts.
Despite this stronger enforcement presence, authorities warn that policing alone cannot solve the crisis. It is explained that behavioural choices made before drivers even get behind the wheel remain the most decisive factor in preventing crashes.
Saturday Star