Nelson Mandela Bay warns drivers after marked increase in drunk driving over Easter

Cape Town – The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) has sent a warning to drivers, following an increase in drunk driving arrests over the Easter weekend.

A total of 97 drunk drivers were arrested between April 6 to 10, 2023, compared to 78 arrests over the same period last year.

“This year-on-year increase in drunk driving arrests concerns us and it is something we will continue to fight with our stakeholders as these drivers put other people’s lives at risk and sometimes even damage our infrastructure,” said NMBM Safety and Security mayco member, Lawrence Troon.

“We had joint operations with SAPS, NMBM Metro Police and Traffic Services, as well as Provincial Traffic yielding positive results with 55 arrests made by the Metro Police and 42 made by traffic services.

“Interdepartmental and intergovernmental co-operation was very good, especially from the NMBM Public Health with nurses who assisted during the major operations.

“The successful planning of the drunken driving operations resulted in the above increase in arrests.”

Troon added that bribery would not be tolerated, and “any opportunistic criminal activities will be dealt with harshly to ensure the safety of all residents and visitors who love coming to our Metro”.

The municipality said that the weekend operations also led to 25 traffic warrants of arrests executed, a total of R41 100 recovered from warrants executed, attending to three fatal accidents, minor injury accidents and seven damage-only accidents.

While NMBM Fire and Emergency Services also attended to 70 fires, including six vehicle accidents, 34 bush fires, four building fires and six informal dwelling fires.

Cape Times