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Drunk driving on the rise in Mpumalanga

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Mpumalanga’s Department of Safety Security and Liaison says it is worried that people continue to drive while under the influence of alcohol. This is after the sudden increase of the number of people who are arrested for drunk driving in the province.

As the Christmas long weekend is getting closer traffic authorities have once again called on the residents to refrain from driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Road authorities says drunk driving statistics are increasing mostly on weekends.

The Department of Community Safety Security and Liaison says more than 100 people have been arrested for drunk and driving in Mpumalanga this past weekend alone.

Departmental Spokesperson, Moeti Mmusi says people should keep in mind that driving while under the influence contributes a lot to the road crashes:

“We have been bring to book about 174 drivers who were caught while driving under the influence of alcohol we have also been able to bring about 102 of them under arrest for excessive speeding since the weekend of the 8th of December. This was done last year to ensure that people comply with traffic rules and regulations.”

Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Leonard Hlathi says more than 3 200 people have been arrested for various offences as a result of their Festive Season Operation. Hlathi says this includes the arrest of 96 suspects for drug-related crimes.

“Our biggest concern is the liquor order violation of the liquor Act. It is a problem to us because we have a large number of people that we have arrested for being under the influence of liquor. This is uncalled for, because we have many accidents that are happening in our roads as a result. So, we are saying we are calling on people to behave themselves. We also have a problem of people that are leaving their homes without being guarded. That is what is giving rise to burglaries that are happening.”

Some residents believe that the law enforcers are giving lenient punishments to those who are nabbed for driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Meanwhile, a truck driver was killed in a collision between two trucks on the N2 road near Sheepmore.

The driver and a passenger in the other truck were seriously injured.

The two trucks caught fire after the collision as one of them was transporting chemicals.

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