Norway Paper Says SA Diplomat Recalled After Alleged Drunk Driving Crash

A diplomat at the South African embassy in Oslo, Norway, has been recalled home after allegedly crashing an embassy car while driving under the influence of alcohol, according to news reports.

“We can confirm that we now have received a response (from the South African Embassy) that South African authorities will call home the diplomat suspected of drunk driving,” Astrid Sehl of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry told an Oslo newspaper on Tuesday. “It’s not yet clear when the diplomat will return to South Africa, but Norwegian authorities want a speedy departure.”

There has been no official confirmation or statement yet about the alleged incident by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in Pretoria.

The Norwegian paper said that on the night of 2 January the unnamed diplomat collided with a car driven by a health care worker responding to a patient’s call for help. The health care worker, a young woman in her 20s, was injured in the crash and both vehicles were badly damaged. The diplomat apparently claimed immunity.

The paper added that the diplomat had been suspected of drunk driving on an earlier occasion as well, in September.

Police had apparently alerted Norway’s foreign ministry in September that he’d been stopped on suspicion of drunk driving but refused to submit to testing, claiming diplomatic immunity.

Shortly after the latest incident, the news report said, Norway’s ministry summoned South African Ambassador Queen Anne Zondo to a meeting and presented her with a request that the diplomat’s immunity be revoked. The news report said the South African ministry also confirmed that the diplomat was being recalled.

“Since this was a serious traffic accident involving personal injuries and suspicions of drunk driving, we would have preferred that the diplomat be questioned by police and eventually charged in Norway,” Sehl was quoted as saying. “It is not acceptable that foreign diplomats break Norwegian law.”

Norway has a virtual zero tolerance for drunk driving. The accepted blood alcohol level (0.2% or .02) is extremely low and the penalties high. In South Africa the maximum alcohol level allowed is 0.05g/100 ml of blood, after being dropped from 0.08g/100ml in 1996.