Minister owes R40K in traffic fines

INLSA

Minister of energy Dipuo Peters. Photo: Leon Nicholas.

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Energy Minister Dipuo Peters has racked up traffic fines of almost R40 000 – and now the DA wants her to come to Parliament to explain.

“Cabinet ministers must set an example for the public by upholding the law. But speeding ministers in blue-light convoys simply confirm the perception that members of this government consider themselves above the law,” said ID chief whip Lance Greyling.

Peters revealed in a written reply to a parliamentary question from Greyling that fines totalling R39 400 were imposed between April 2010 and March this year, and included four tickets amounting to R4500 each.

She explained she was ferried to and from official engagements by the police VIP unit and that the fines were incurred while they were on duty.

“It beggars belief that any individual – let alone a minister of state – can rack up such huge fines in such a short space of time. I will therefore be asking the minister to come to Parliament to explain how she managed to incur R40 000 worth of traffic fines,” Greyling said.

Peters has overtaken the R30 400 that Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Petterson earlier revealed that her drivers had incurred in fines.

Greyling said Peters “must have known that her VIP cavalcade was driving too fast” and said fines of R4500 were usually for driving at more than double the speed limit.

“The minister must take responsibility for the speed at which her convoy travels and their adherence to traffic rules.”

Peters’s spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment. -The Star