Numerous traffic fines are incorrectly issued by local authorities across the country and it is jeopardising road safety

7 November 2018

Numerous traffic fines are being incorrectly issued by local authorities across the country as the said fines are sent directly to the vehicle owner or the company that owns the vehicles and not to the legally appointed agent who handles the fines on behalf of the owner.

This is particularly prevalent in cases where companies have a large fleet of vehicles and they appoint an agent to handle all fines on their behalf. The information was gleaned from the response of the Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande, to a parliamentary question.

In practice, it appears that fines are issued directly to the owner or the company and that means that the fines are not issued according to the relevant rules and regulations. Consequently, these fines do not get paid and they expire. And thus, offenders are not called to account because the local authorities are reckless in their management of traffic fines.

The problem seems to be the most serious in local governments like Ventersdorp, Potchefstroom, Durban and Midvaal.

But it is a countrywide phenomenon. A large source of income for local authorities is lost in this way and even road safety is jeopardised by the invalidity of these traffic fines.

Another consequence is that unpaid fines prevent the renewal of licences and that means the vehicles cannot be utilised, particularly by transport companies.

In his answer, the Minister indicated that he will ask the Road Traffic Management Corporation to monitor the situation.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus chairperson and parliamentary spokesperson: Transport, 7 November 2018