Severe backlog of drunken drivers’ blood-test results
For the 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years, 53 414 drunk driving arrests were made across Gauteng, yet 22 915 (43 per cent) cases could not be concluded due to outstanding blood test results.
While in almost every arrest a blood test was conducted on the guilty driver, only 23 892 blood test results have been returned.
Gauteng has a high road mortality rate and every year the Minister of Transport paints a horrific picture of how this number continues to grow. Expensive and elaborate road safety programmes are rolled out annually to no avail as those who break the law know that they will not face punitive action.
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The slow pace of returning the blood test results causes a backlog in the criminal justice system and in many cases delays justice.
“If justice is delayed, lawlessness will continue to thrive. I will write to the MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane to ascertain what steps she has taken to lobby her counterparts in national government to provide more resources to forensic laboratories in the province.
“The deficiencies of the ANC government should not impact on the rights of ordinary citizens to stay safe and receive legal recourse from those who flaunt the law,” said DA Gauteng spokesperson on Community Safety, Michele Clarke MPL.
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