An alcohol blitz by provincial traffic police at the weekend saw a total of 2 233 vehicles stopped, with police making 17 arrests for drunk-driving offences and two arrests for false driving licences. There were also four fatalities on the roads.
Western Cape traffic police issued a total of 220 fines with a monetary value of R28 971.
Vehicles were stopped throughout the province, from Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town along the N7 and N2 motorways.
Provincial traffic boss Kenny Africa said that motorists needed to urgently change their attitude towards drunk driving.
“People still think they can get away with drunk driving. If a person wants to take a chance to drink and drive, we will arrest them.
“The fact that we got 17 drunk drivers off the road means we saved lives,” Africa said.
During the course of the weekend’s blitz, traffic officers stopped a vehicle carrying 8 632kg of illegally sourced abalone, which has an estimated street value of R4.3 million.
Africa said police had confiscated the abalone, but the driver fled the vehicle and has yet to be apprehended.
A police investigation is under way to locate the man.
Africa said that the four recorded fatalities on Western Cape roads at the weekend was below average, but warned that a lot could change (before this morning).