An off-duty police officer crashed a SAPS vehicle in Calitzdorp, Western Cape, on Monday, 9 December, while there are suggestions he was allegedly driving drunk.
The incident occurred while law enforcement officers are cracking down on driving safety over the festive season.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, during the launch of the 2024 Festive Season Road Safety Campaign at the beginning of this month, reiterated that road crashes harmed the economy. A total of 1,285 road deaths were recorded during the 2023 festive season – alcohol and speeding are two of the biggest contributors to road deaths.
According to Creecy, the festive season has begun on a bleak note, with the preliminary road statistics showing that in the first six days of December, the country recorded 162 fatal crashes and 193 deaths.
The police officer in Calitzdorp, whose identity cannot be revealed since he has yet to be formally charged or appear in court, is expected to be released from hospital on Friday.
When police arrived at the accident scene, the off-duty officer was already in the ambulance with a drip attached and ready to be transferred to hospital. It is now too late to collect a blood sample.
Police did not respond to questions on whether a blood sample had been taken when the officer was in hospital, nor to allegations that police officers at the scene allegedly removed alcohol bottles from inside the crashed police vehicle.
Daily Maverick has learnt from a police officer close to the investigation and an ambulance staff member who was on the scene that onlookers claimed police officers allegedly removed a bottle of whisky from the crashed police vehicle.
Southern Cape SAPS spokesperson Sergeant Christopher Spies confirmed criminal cases of reckless and negligent driving and the use of a vehicle without the owner’s consent were registered after a police vehicle collided with a wall on the corners of Voortrekker and Van Rensburg streets, Calitzdorp on Monday, 9 December 2024 at about 7:30pm.
“This office is not at liberty to confirm the identity of the driver because no arrest has been made yet or charged in this matter,” he said.
A passenger inside a vehicle driving behind the police vehicle captured a six-minute video showing the officer behind the wheel drifting from side to side on the road between Dysselsdorp and Calitzdorp in the Western Cape.
At one point on this road, the police vehicle drifted off the road and hit the gravel on the road’s edge, resulting in dusty plumes, but the driver steered the vehicle back on to the road.
Once the police vehicle entered the town of Calitzdorp, the driver again hit the gravel on the side of the road and veered into a wall. Residents were first on the scene, before the police or other law enforcement officers.
Responding to the question of why police failed to take a blood sample, provincial police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie said: “When police arrived at the scene, the officer was already receiving medical attention and stabilisation, hence no blood sample was taken at that stage.
“Those who were on the scene and made claims that the officer was allegedly drunk should make a statement at the Calitzdorp Police Station.”
No blood sample, nothing to prove
City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith told Daily Maverick: “The failure of blood samples not taken at scenes is a weakness in how these matters are dealt with. Our officers try to make sure that a blood sample is taken whenever there is suspicion of drunk driving.
“Often what will happen is that a drunk driver will be injured, even if just slightly and will then be whisked off to hospital without the drunk driving sample being taken. I once was on the N1 and saw a family of a drunk driver from Brackenfell, physically sneaking him out of the scene and racing off in their car to prevent him from getting a blood sample.”
Smith added it was incumbent on those who were on the scene to ensure that a blood sample was taken and when the injured police officer was taken to hospital, that a blood sample should have been taken there.
“It is days later. It’s too late and there is nothing to prove. You will prove from observations of people at the scene from their affidavits stating that a driver was drunk, his speech was slurred, he was swaying, but you will not be able to take a blood sample now,” he said.
On Thursday, Caro Smith of South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD) told Daily Maverick that from the video it was clear that the driver was driving very erratically, dangerously, changing from side to side of the road, going over the white line and eventually crashing, so that person’s driving was impaired and could be charged with drunk driving.
She said one way of preventing drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel of public vehicles was to install an ignition interlock device or breath alcohol ignition interlock device in all public vehicles, buses and taxis. This meant if a police officer who was allegedly intoxicated blew through the alcohol ignition interlock device, the vehicle would not start due to the driver’s alcohol level.
Criminal investigation
According to Southern Cape police spokesperson Spies, preliminary reports indicate that police were alerted to the accident by a member of the public. On arrival, police found the vehicle and the off-duty police official, who had already boarded an ambulance to be transported to hospital.
Meanwhile, Garden Route District Commissioner Major General Phumzile Cetyana has appointed a senior officer from his office, who has begun an internal probe into the matter. This probe will run parallel with the criminal investigation. DM