The South African Police Service (Saps) has denied claims it failed to find blood alcohol test kits in time to catch drunk drivers at roadblocks during the festive season. This comes after the Public Servants Association (PSA) said it was aware that Saps had failed to get alcohol test kits ahead of the festive season, despite drinking and driving problems which, according to the PSA, account for more than half of road accidents. . PSA spokesperson Claude Naicker said Police Minister Bheki Cele blamed the procurement department for irresponsibility for failing to adequately resource…
The South African Police Service (Saps) has rejected claims it failed to find blood alcohol test kits in time to catch drunk drivers at roadblocks during the festive season.
This comes after the Public Servants Association (PSA) said it was aware that Saps had failed to get alcohol test kits ahead of the festive season, despite drinking and driving problems which, according to the PSA, account for more than half of road accidents. .
Incompetence
PSA spokesperson Claude Naicker said Police Minister Bheki Cele blamed the irresponsible procurement department for failing to resource the department.
“This failure would create an impractical situation where law enforcement officers would have to take all suspected drivers to the hospital to have their blood drawn because they are needed as evidence in court,” Naicker said.
Also read: Shortage of blood test kits hampers police
“Applicants can avoid facing the law because they are incompetent, do not have a proper plan and fail to implement government entities.
“Law enforcement officers cannot be expected to do their job without resources, so the minister and the executive committee must be held accountable for failing their employees and the nation.”
Saps denied the allegations, saying there was only a delay in the distribution of alcohol blood test kits from the national Saps to police stations across the country.
Global vial shortage
Police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said the delay was caused by a global shortage of vials.
It is a component of a complete blood alcohol test kit that contains chemicals that ensure the blood drawn maintains the same alcohol level until it is analyzed by the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) and used as evidence in court.
“It is not true that Saps failed to find alcohol blood test kits. The problem is the delay in the distribution of blood test kits,” said Mathe.
The supplier intervened
“As soon as we see a shortage, or the blood alcohol test has run out in the system, we meet the contracted supplier to Saps.
“They then signaled that there is a global shortage of vials.” Mathe said that by the end of November, the supplier could get the vials in the international market.
“These are new vials and have not been tested before, so Saps and the health department are trying to ensure compliance with Saps specifications,” he said.
Read more: Shortage of blood test kits
“It is important that the vials must pass a rigorous test to ensure the accuracy of the evidence that will be presented in court.
“Once confirmation of compliance is obtained, the distribution of blood alcohol tests will begin.” He said that in the absence of such blood test kits, police can still arrest drunk drivers at roadblocks in cooperation with various law enforcement arms, including metro police and provincial traffic police.
Mathe said there was no situation where there was no blood alcohol test at the roadblocks because they were conducting roadblocks with other government departments.
Resources must be shared
“Participating together means that we share resources that include alcohol blood test kits. “Metro police, local traffic police and provincial traffic police have kits,” said Mathe.
“The police also completed observation reports on cases of drunkenness and driving. “We have worked together in these operations and have made several arrests.”
He said Saps, the health department and other stakeholders are working round the clock for rapid testing of the new vials.
Naicker was still hesitant, saying: “Our members were not informed that there was a problem with the vials that had to be tested. “In any case, if the vials had to be tested, they should have been tested beforehand.
In my opinion, he was just trying to divert attention from the fact that he didn’t get the kit on time.
lungam@citizen.co.za