Pretoria - The Department of Transport and the Road Traffic Management Corporation want to strengthen measures and punishments to combat road accidents during the December and Easter holidays.
Minister of Transport Blade Nzimande has revealed that road accidents killed many people because there were some reckless, drunken and fatigued drivers who refused to obey the law.
He said an unacceptable increase in road accidents was already recorded between December 1 and 18 in all provinces, except Gauteng, compared to this period last year.
His department was now pushing for the government to change policies which would allow the Department of Justice to give harsher punishment and make things harder for offenders.
Nzimande said new technological innovations of the fourth industrial revolution should be used by traffic officers so that blood tests could be conducted on the spot, and the instant results accepted and used in court.
He said an urgent meeting would be held with the Department of Justice and the National Prosecuting Authority to ensure that serious cases involving violation of traffic law were prosecuted expeditiously.
Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesperson Simon Zwane suggested that drunken motorists be kept in jail for at least a week before they could receive bail.
He reckoned this would discourage a lot of motorists from being reckless and irresponsible on the roads.