The admissibility of the Dräger Alcotest 7110 MK 111 breathalyser – results in the South African courts

• Date: 16 August 2019
• Published date: 16 August 2019

NOtes

The admissibility of the Dräger

Alcotest 7110 MK 111 breathalyser –

results in the South African courts

M CARNELLEY, H SCHULTZ & T WINCHESTER

University of KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermar itzburg)

1. Introduction

‘… breath testing is used and relied upon [because] – it is far less time

consuming, economically more advantageous as well as preventing all the

potential negative impacts of working with blood. When a breath test is

done, one does not have to wait months for the results since the results

are printed by the Alcotest immediately after the breath sample is taken

and this would lead to the realization of speedy and effective justice. …

[I]t remains clear that any method used must comply with the rule of law.’ (S v

Hendricks (cc46/2010) [2011] ZAWCHC 345 (9 September 2011) (Hendricks)

at para [98]).

1.1 Background

Driving drunk is a scourge that c auses unnecessary loss of life, medical

expenses for the individual and the state as well as damage to property.

Research by t he Medical Research Council shows that 59% of dr ivers

killed in road accidents were under the inf‌luence of alcohol (Road

Traff‌ic Management Corpor ation Road Traff‌ic Report (2009) 49) and that

fatal accidents cost South A frica R52 billion in 2007 alone (Hendr icks

at para [2] fn 1). There is a need to control the use of alcohol before

driving as it is a threat to public safety (J Van der Westhuizen Forensic

Criminalistics (1993) at 149). As such, there is a duty on the state to

address the problem of drunk dr iving in an ef fective, un ambiguous

and constit utionally lawful manner. The approach in South Africa is

to target the problem on many levels, bot h preventative and punitive,

inter alia through provision of information and education (Arrive

Alive ca mpaign); and the prosecut ion of potential offenders. It is on

the last-mentioned policy that this note is focu sed.

The evidentiary possibilities that have been used in courts to present

evidence of the state of alcohol intoxication are three-fold. Origi nally

333

(2011) 24 SACJ 333

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