South Africa’s motorists drastically outnumber traffic cops

Every day, South Africa’s 22,000 traffic officers face the daunting task of policing the millions of motorists on the country’s roads.

This ratio represents a massive shortage of officials on the ground, meaning that much of the illegal activity taking place on the roads goes unnoticed by traffic cops.

“We’ve only got 22,000 traffic officers in the country, yet the population of vehicles on our roads is just over 14 million,” the Department of Transport spokesperson, Collen Msibi, told The Independent.

He noted that the shortage of traffic officers means that not every vehicle can be policed.

Policing the country’s roads becomes infinitely more difficult during the festive season, when many South Africans travel long distances and across provinces to reach holiday destinations.

During the latest festive season, the country’s law enforcement officers conducted 1,632 roadblocks, from where they were able to check 1.8 million vehicles.

More than 450,000 traffic fines were issued during the operations, and 525 drivers were arrested for excessive speeding. Roadblocks also targeted vehicle roadworthiness, driver fitness, and licensing.

At roadblocks, 173,695 drivers were tested for driving under the influence of alcohol, with 8,561 testing positive. This marks a 144% increase from the same period in 2024.

Msibi added that as long as driver behaviour does not change, officials’ efforts are all in vain.

The spokesperson said that drinking and driving incidents have reached a “crisis level” and that drunk pedestrians play as much of a role in road deaths as drunk drivers.

The highest alcohol reading recorded during festive season operations was taken in KwaZulu-Natal, where a motorist recorded breath alcohol content fourteen times the legal limit.

“I think where there’s loss of lives because of somebody who was drunk, it becomes a crisis,” he said

It is because of the widespread drunk driving that Transport Minister Barbara Creecy is looking to abolish existing drinking and driving regulations, and aims to lower the threshold to zero by April.

More to be done

Despite the Transport Department’s continued nationwide efforts, Msibi said efforts to make roads safer have not yet yielded satisfactory results.

“No matter how many education campaigns we run, no matter how much law enforcement we conduct on our roads, we can’t police each and every vehicle,” he said.

“It’s all in vain because at the end of the day, you have to decide that ‘I’m going to change’, ‘I’m going to drive in a much more responsible way’.”

The number of individuals arrested during roadblocks doubled compared to the previous festive season, despite increased nationwide police visibility and law enforcement operations.

Although, as a result of increased police deployment, the department reported a significant increase in the number of vehicles that were stopped and checked, as well as increased arrests for drunk driving and speeding.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) were also heavily involved in festive season operations.

Police arrested 16,044 suspects between 29 December 2025 and 04 January 2026 under nationwide Operation Shanela II actions.

Of those arrested, 1,816 were apprehended for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“I think we also have to admit that even if the figures come down, they are still much, much too high,” the spokesperson added.

“It means that all of us, including the public, have got to do a lot more work on our behaviour, not just over the festive season, but every single day.”