By Nosipho Haya-Komisa
The Eastern Cape Department of Transport has issued a warning to all motorists to obey the rules and regulations of the road in the province. It said traffic officers will act decisively against motorists caught drunk while behind the wheels.
The department has vowed to dispatch traffic officers on all roads of the province and will arrest all those who are caught drunk and driving.
Since the lifting of the alcohol ban on Monday, the Eastern Cape has reported a number of road accidents which left ten people dead and eight seriously injured.
Provincial Transport spokesperson Unathi Bhinqose said they are very concerned about the increasing number of road accidents.
“On day one of the first of June we lost ten lives out of that ten eight were pedestrians and it’s very concerning. It’s unprecedented especially for a Monday, we are seriously concerned about what is likely to happen when the weekend comes”
However Bhinqose said they don’t want to entirely put the blame on the sale of alcohol as there is high volume of traffic flow on the road during level three of the national lockdown.
“We don’t want to pin and blame everything on the sale of alcohol, of course as we are going down to the lockdown stages there is a high chance that there may be accidents.”
Bhinqose has urged the provincial road users and motorists to be very careful and that they must purchase their alcohol and consume it at home as permitted by the government.