A Cape magistrate has taken tough action and sentenced a man arrested four times for drunk driving to three years’ house arrest, banned him from drinking alcohol and destroyed his driver’s licence.
A Cape magistrate has taken tough action and sentenced a man arrested four times for drunk driving to three years’ house arrest, banned him from drinking alcohol and destroyed his driver’s licence.
The reported that a Goodwood magistrate told Daniel Matthee that the court needed to impose a sentence that would “remind you every day” of what he had done wrong.
He said he could impose a fine of R120 000, but he realised Matthee could not pay it and chose a different tactic. “I hereby place you under house arrest for three years,” he told Matthee. “You may leave your house only to go to work, to church and to perform your community service. There will be no socialising with friends.”
He also banned Matthee from using drugs or alcohol during this time. “It is obvious you have a problem with alcohol. I will not allow you to misuse alcohol… there will be no use of alcohol. No brandy… not even a beer.”
He will have to enter a rehabilitation programme. “If you break this condition you will come back here and I will sentence you to a very long imprisonment,” he said. Matthee will also have to perform 200 hours of community service at the Quadriplegic Association of South Africa to “see for yourself how people look who are injured in drunk-driving accidents”.
The magistrate said that Matthee’s licence would be destroyed. “Only after four years will you be able to apply for a new licence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the latest Arrive Alive reports show that 203 people died in 156 accidents on South African roads during the Easter weekend. Seventy-nine of the fatalities were pedestrians, 69 were passengers and 55 were drivers. Mpumalanga recorded the most fatalities with 38, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 34, Western Cape 28, Eastern Cape 27, Free State 20, North West 16, Limpopo 20 and Northern Cape 2.