Hands putting money in a pocket A 32-year-old Zimbabwean man was arrested for drunk driving and corruption.
Image: Karen Sandison/Independent Media
A 32-year-old Zimbabwean driver accused of drinking and driving is expected to appear before the Brits Magistrate’s Court on Monday after he allegedly tried to bribe cops with R100.
North West department of community safety and transport management spokesperson, Charles Matlou said trouble started for the 32-year-old when he was arrested by a provincial traffic officer for drunk driving.
“He tried to bribe the traffic officer with R100 when arrested for drunk driving. He is one of the 941 drivers arrested for drunk driving throughout the country,” said Matlou.
He said about 30 drivers were arrested in the Brits CBD and surrounding areas of Mothotlung, Letlhabile and Mmakau over the weekend.
“Drunk driving has been identified as one of the major contributors of fatal crashes. As of the beginning of the festive season, the province has recorded 36 fatalities from 31 crashes,” said Matlou.
“This is seven percent of the 512 fatalities in the Republic of South Africa for the weekend leading to Christmas.”
Meanwhile, North West MEC for community safety and transport management, Wessels Morweng has saluted provincial traffic officers for their hard work since the beginning of the festive period.
He appealed to the provincial traffic officers to continue to do their work diligently on all the routes.
“These crashes are causing us lot of pain and we continue to lose beloved ones due to avoidable accidents. This also costs the State millions of rands. We will not allow any drunken driver on our roads as this has recently been identified as one of the major contributing factors to crashes,” said Morweng.
“Any contravention of any traffic statute will be met with harsh punishment. Anyone found behind the wheel while intoxicated will be locked up.”
A week ago, the North West province activated the road safety campaign where a mobile alcohol evidence centre was also launched.
The state-of-the-art mobile alcohol evidence centre was donated by the South African Breweries (SAB) and will expedite detection and processing analysis of drunk driving incidents on the provincial roads.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
IOL
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