Pretoria – Numerous drunken drivers were arrested in Pretoria during an operation conducted by women police officers on Saturday night.
Led by Gauteng traffic police chief provincial inspector Lizzy Mabilane, two teams of women stopped motorists in Garsfontein, east of the city.
“As we all know, August is Women’s Month and this is the first of our operations against drunken driving,” she told ANA.
“We are women from Gauteng traffic police, the Tshwane metro police, national traffic police, and the South African Police Service.
“This is a big operation and we have divided ourselves into two teams working in this area tonight [Saturday]. We are on the lookout for drunken driving but we are also ready for any other offences.”
Thirty-four women officers participated.
By 10pm, more than 11 drivers had been arrested and taken to the Garsfontein police station.
Motorists were breathalysed, and arrested if found to be over the limit, before having a blood sample taken.
The arrested drivers will appear in court on Monday.
A number of operations are scheduled to take place in different areas of Gauteng this month, led by female law enforcement officers.
August is marked as Women’s Month in South Africa with annual Women’s Day celebrations scheduled for August 9.
On August 9, 1956, around 20 000 women participated in a mass march to protest against pass law legislation, which required non-white South Africans to carry a document on them to prove they were allowed to enter “white areas”.
Women of all races and ages from all corners of the country marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The march was organised by the Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw) and led by Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophie Williams, and Lilian Ngoyi.
ANA