Silly season upon us with drunken driving proposal

We are not even a week into November and it would seem the silly season is upon us. Not only do we have the minister of home affairs Malusi Gigaba – he of state capture and sex video fame – whining that he is in fact the victim of a campaign to destroy his political career, but we also learn he has been nurturing presidential aspirations.

Out in cyberspace, we have conspiracy theorists arguing that Sars commissioner Tom Moyane was axed not because he had reduced the country’s tax office to a shadow of its former self in the interests of state capture, nor because he had refused to cooperate with the commission looking into the rot at Sars. According to this crowd, it was all because of a “Stellenbosch mafia” out to protect cabinet minister Pravin Gordhan and get Moyane.

And the silly season is extending to everyday life as well. There’s now a bizarre proposal that suspected drunken drivers should be held by the authorities for at least a week before they can apply for bail.

This not very bright idea comes from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), who, ahead of the festive season, are quite rightly concerned at the extent of the carnage on our roads. This has led them to propose that the justice authorities classify driving under the influence along with rape, murder and armed robbery.

We strongly concur that our country has a huge problem with irresponsible drivers, and that these drivers far too often are intoxicated and sometimes this ends in tragic loss of life and limb.

But it is downright foolish to think that withholding bail is the way to tackle the problem.

The experience of much of the rest of the world indicates that docking offending drivers’ licences and perhaps even impounding vehicles, has a remarkable impact upon driver behaviour.

Visible policing, as in sufficient traffic police out on the highways and byways, would make a huge difference as well.

Bad, including drunken, driving takes a huge toll each year during the festive season, as well as the rest of the year. However coming up with a draconian proposal that indicates little understanding of the bail system and would almost certainly face legal challenge, is just silly.

But it is downright foolish to think that withholding bail is the way to tackle the problem