In Church Street, the town’s main street, the long arm of the law, that prowls the empty streets at night…waiting..in fast cars and on foot… pounced, and motorist was given a speeding ticket.
Wanting a explanation from the traffic cop that this couldn’t be right, fell on deaf ears. (nothing new )

Enquiries to Steve Tshwete municipality at Middelburg (which has jurisdiction over Hendrina) were not answered. ( we have a good idea of how admin staff in government offices spend their time..!)

Apparently the town’s traffic department said the fine would have to be defended in court.

Now lets look at the negatives, just to ensure I keep my integrity. 1. There is no cd player or radio. 2. You would get wet in the rain. 3. Falling off would definitely hurt. 4. And that special someone whose legs are wrapped around you most definitely won’t end up sleeping with you.

When you look at the pro’s and con’s it’s still a pretty close decision, right?

Well luckily, Piaggio has just released a three wheeled scooter designed to minimize your chances of eating bitumen for breakfast. It even has extra storage compartments perfect for storing a raincoat.

If you’re really desperate to crank some beats, you can always use some money you saved on a car to purchase an I-pod. If you’ve read this far hoping for an excuse to sell out your ego, you’re not going to get one, other than the more people them,

This obnoxious speed cop had found his easy white target. Mr traffic cop takes his merry time going to his vehicle to get his ticket book, making it rather obvious time was on his side and we would just have to wait till he was ready.

It was decided by him that my standard tow bar ,obscured my number plate sufficiently making it impossible to read. On attempting to question his logic I was told he has the power and will if necessary remove my registration disc immediately.

I Informed this esteemed verkeers man, I speak the official language only, yet he continued in the taal, and issue a R500.00 fine in Afrikaans.

When I got irate and questioned him why speeding is aloud, was asked if I would like my car impounded immediately for my apparent number plate transgression.

The problem in South Africa is that whites are easy targets, and generally payup.This traffic cop hides behind the law and uniform ,I personally will rather succumb to this ,rather than test our law and end up behind bars while our third world red tape is sorted out.

This is a photo of the cop in question.!!

This is democracy hard at work, finding easy targets ,payment of apparent transgression almost guaranteed by selective issuing of traffic tickets.

This container was not hooked into the slides of the truck-bed. This photo does not give this danger justice. Would this accident, possibly causing lose of life be worthy of a fine?

INFORMATION NOTICE TO SAVRALA MEMBERS

The information below was e-mailed to one of our members and is being shared with you. Until we resolve our legal issues related to Traffic Fines and the arresting of car rental companies proxies, please can you notify your staff and proxies of this information supplied below:-

___________________________________________

ROADSIDE ARREST ON OUTSTANDING FINES

The LAW SOCIETY OF SA has currently appointed a group of attorneys to deal with this flagrant transgression of the law; for further info on which attorney are taking on cases like these, please call Hester Bezuidenhout 012 338 5872 who will assist.

Know your rights
The traffic/metro police are doing random roadblock checks. They will also feed your registration into a computer that will show up if you have any outstanding fines. Know your rights.

If you get stopped for outstanding traffic fines – really important for all drivers: Make sure that everybody gets this message.

The Jhb Metro Police, Cape Town Metro Police and other traffic cops have recently developed the nasty habit of locking people up for unpaid fines. These road blocks are typically only happening in and around more affluent areas where their “hit rate” will be higher on traceable entities, with more “fixed” abodes when, as we all know, primary daily offenders in their mini busses literally get away with murder because the cops are too scared to root them out of the townships, or the justice system has no means of putting them over a barrel like the majority of “soft” citizens.

They can only arrest you if:

1. They have the original warrant for your arrest there with them. A copy isn’t good enough, saying it’s at the station isn’t good enough either. They have to show it to you there and then (if they have it, check plan “b”).

2. They have to prove that you received the summons in person. It either had to be delivered to you in person or you had to collect a registered letter from the post office (if they cannot prove you personally received the relevant summons, the warrant of arrest is not legal either).

3. If you do get stopped and they want to arrest you, demand to see the warrant and proof you received the summons (i.e. your own signature on the document when delivered to you).

4. If they don’t have it, the arrest is illegal. Refuse to go. If they still arrest you inform them there and then you will press charges against them for illegal arrest (record everything that is said to you, as well as the chronological procedure of events in detail). These details may well stand you in good stead for a strong case.

5. Technically, if your arrest is illegal, the taking possession of your car by the police and its driving thereof while you are in custody may also constitute theft.

6. When you are released, go to the SAPS immediately and lay a charge against the arresting law body and relevant official.

*** MAKE SURE YOU CARRY YOUR DRIVER’S LICENCE WITH YOU!! ***

Copied and supplied to SAVRALA MEMBERS by Wayne Duvenage, General Manager (SAVRALA) Cell: 0836766203

Do the math – that’s over R60,000 a day in fines!

The N2 is the major arterial highway that connects the Cape Town to Khayelitsha, Langa, Gugaletu and then onto the Cape Town International Airport.

Now normal law abiding motorists who are just trying to make a living are fined an absolutely ridiculous R500.00 each time they are caught in the B&T lane.

The council hasn’t added a lane but rather taken one away. The already congested 3 lane highway has been reduced it to two lanes.

The taxi operators now own the right hand lane.

Sure it is a dedicated transport lane but where was the research into the lane’s viability? What about a traffic management analysis to measure its impact on existing traffic flows? Why not add another lane? Isn’t the R60,000 a day in fines an indication that something is wrong?

And besides, Cape Town doesn’t have a safe, reliable and effective public transport system!

Many countries throughout the world have introduced dedicated transport lanes but been clever enough to call them T2 or T3 lanes. That is any vehicle can use the public transport lane if the vehicle has two, three or more occupants.

Many highways and roads have speed traps to catch motorists, yet non have been installed on the N2 B&T Lane. Why?

Taxis are renowned for speeding – just look at the number of taxis involved in the 12,000+ yearly road death toll. Yet the council has chosen money ahead of public safety by setting cameras up to detect lane violations rather than taxi speeding.

So, this begs the question – “For how long is the Cape Town City Council going to milk this new cash cow?”.

Number plates are not a essential requirement nowadays after roadworthy.

This brain-wave plan by the city council is meant to promote public transport, thus reduce the use of private motor cars on our roads. Part of this master plan is that if more people use public transport pollution by car emissions would be reduced. Those not using these taxis will spent more time on the road due to a reduction of one lane.

Now it stands to reason these that poor souls are in fact going to increase pollution emissions due to congestion of this highway. Wait it gets better, apparently there will be traffic officers to flag down taxis that do not stay in their dedicated lane. Who are they fooling, its a known fact that you need serious re-enforcements to stop these guys. Taxi violence is a everyday reassurance.

Maybe when all those high in government feel safe and secure to use the public transport themselves john public will follow. Our public health system has the same woes, those in high places say all is well, yet they themselves book themselves into private clinics. What a contradiction.