Drunk drivers beware - the authorities can now confiscate your vehicles if you are caught.
Drive Alive said the matter was "long overdue".
On Thursday, Judge Dennis Davis granted the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) an order in the Cape High Court to attach a drunken driver's vehicle.
Benjamin Kleinbooi drove drunk in Voortrekker Road, Laingsburg, on March 14. Now his Toyota Corolla belongs to the state.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said they had decided to actively support the transport department's Arrive Alive campaign by "sending a strong message to drunken
drivers and save lives".
Ngwema said the car was being attached as an instrument used in the commission of an offence, in the same way that a gun used in an unlawful shooting would be confiscated.
The AFU is to apply for a forfeiture order to permanently retain the car. This could take several months. Depending on its condition, the car would eventually be auctioned or given to a state department to use.
Drive Alive chairperson Moira Winslow said: "It is absolutely fantastic and I am thrilled. I've been telling them to do this for years.
"Let's take the Porsches and the Mercedes-Benzes and even the man-in-the-street's car if he is driving drunk.
"It only needs to happen about 10 times before drunk driving stops."
Provincial traffic principal inspector Keith Holmes said: "Once this message gets through to people, it will act as a deterrent. I hope to see a further decrease in the accident rate due to less drunk driving."
But the Automobile Association (AA) criticised the AFU for meddling in drunken driving cases, as it had been set up to deal with white-collar crime.
AA spokesperson Gary Ronald said one in every 15 motorists on the road between 6pm and 12 midnight drove over the legal limit.
"Our concern is that the seized vehicles might not belong to the driver, so this is not the appropriate punishment.
"Although drunken drivers break the law, we question whether the activities of the AFU actually should cover drunken driving.
"The National Road Traffic Act already covers drunken driving offences and the punishment is up to six years in jail. The real issue is that people drive drunk because they are hardly ever caught, especially in metro areas, because policing is ineffective."
According to the Traffic Offence Survey Report released late in 2003 by the Transport Department, the driver alcohol levels in SA were much higher than international standards.
A Medical Research Council report stated that the blood alcohol count of almost half (46,5 percent) of drivers killed in accidents during 2001 exceeded the legal limit.
"These are the compelling reasons for the NPA to assist in stopping the carnage on our roads. We warn drivers not to drink and drive. If they do, they might not get away with it this time," said Ngwema.