Rustenburg - At least 1,300 drivers have been arrested in Mpumalanga in the past month for driving under the influence of alcohol, the provincial police said on Thursday.
"This poses a danger, not only to these drivers, but to other road users as well because most lives are lost due to people who disobey the law by consciously going behind the wheel after consumption of alcohol," said police spokesperson brigadier Leonard Hlathi.
He said since the beginning of the safer festive season operation, police detained more than 1,300 drivers for allegedly driving while under the influence of alcohol. Twenty-eight of them were arrested in Nelspruit last Sunday.
The operation was launched on October 25.
Road users, including pedestrians and passengers, were urged to be more responsible and avoid drinking if they needed to travel.
"Members of the South African Police Service and other law-enforcement agencies continue to frequently monitor and conduct road policing as well as manning other checkpoints to deter as well as arrest people for drinking and driving," he said.
Hlathi said the provincial commissioner of Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, has stressed that the law enforcement agencies will show zero tolerance for drinking and driving.