Drunk drivers’ cars can be forfeited to the state, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in a test case on Thursday.
The court held that a motor vehicle driven under the influence of liquor — or while the level of alcohol in the driver’s blood exceeds the prescribed limit — is liable to be forfeited to the state in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
The court held that the Act is not just restricted to organised crime, but extends to ordinary crimes committed by individuals.
This means a motor vehicle constitutes an ”instrumentality” of the offences of driving under the influence of liquor and can thus be forfeited to the state in terms of the Act.
However, the Bloemfontein court also held that a vehicle driven in these conditions is not liable to forfeiture in every case. A court may only order the vehicle to be forfeited if such an order will be proportional to the particular offence.
This meant that the court must weigh the particular circumstances in which an order for forfeiture is sought.
The appeal arose from five applications that came before the Port Elizabeth High Court in which the national director of public prosecutions, in anticipation of forfeiture applications being brought, sought orders for the preservation of motor vehicles.
These vehicles were alleged to have been driven under the influence of liquor. — Sapa