Johannesburg - There is no legislation which prescribes that a Breathalyser test must be conducted on a motorist who has been involved in a fatal crash.
This was said by Justice Project SA chairman Howard Dembovsky on Sunday in reaction to calls by the DA for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) to investigate why a Breathalyser test was not conducted on President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane.
Duduzane was allegedly involved in an accident last Saturday in which a person was killed.
The accident occurred in Grayston Drive, Sandton, at about 10pm and left one woman dead and two other passengers critically injured.
Phumzile Dube, 31, died instantly in the collision.
The call by DA spokeswoman on the police Dianne Kohler Barnard was prompted by reports that a Breathalyser test was overlooked after Zuma’s Porsche smashed into a minibus taxi, causing it to overturn repeatedly.
Joburg metro police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the breathalyser test had not been conducted because Zuma “was sober”.
He said it was not standard procedure to conduct a Breathalyser test at an accident scene.
Minnaar said a Breathalyser test was conducted only if there was suspicion that the driver was drunk.
Dembovsky agreed with Minnaar, saying metro police officers had done nothing wrong.
However, he said metro police officers were not able to assess whether a motorist was under the influence of alcohol or drugs just by looking at the driver.
Kohler Barnard said Ipid must investigate why standard procedures were flouted, and “who gave the order for this to happen”.
She said Ipid should pull the phone records of all the police officers involved if it had to.
“Because the Breathalyser test was not done, the nation will never know whether Mr Zuma had been consuming alcohol prior to the collision, whether or not he was driving drunk.”
She also questioned why Zuma was allowed to have the car towed away, rather than the vehicle being impounded as evidence. She said this “also speaks to preferential treatment”.
Kohler Barnard added: “Duduzane Zuma must be treated like any other South African citizen. The law cannot be bent or ignored just because President Jacob Zuma is his father. No one in South Africa is above the law.”
Duduzane is a well-established businessman with ties to the controversial Gupta family.
Three years ago, Duduzane and the Guptas were embroiled in a scandal involving the takeover of Kumba’s Sishen mine by Imperial Crown Trading, a company in which they had stakes.
The Guptas and Duduzane are business partners who own shares in steel company ArcelorMittal.
The Star