The Joburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), despite not getting one cent in revenue from traffic fines, is going to continue not only issuing fines against motorists, but also spending R8 million a month on sending out infringement notices by registered mail.
All this knowing there will be no returns, as the few fines collected, believed to be at less than 10 percent of the 400 000 a month issued, are paid over to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) which is supposed to, but does not pay part of the money back to Joburg.
The Star reported last month that the RTIA has failed to send out courtesy letters since December 22, rendering all traffic fines in Joburg and Tshwane illegal. These letters are supposed to be sent, within 32 days, to motorists who fail to pay.
If they are not sent, as specifically required by the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act, the fines are invalid and no action can be taken.
Following The Star’s report, the RTIA refuted the facts, saying the fines were legal. Speaking on radio, it undertook to start sending the courtesy letters on June 1, claiming it had not been doing this because of ongoing postal strikes.
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The Star has been unsuccessful in reaching the RTIA for comment on this. The agency has failed to answer questions put to it several times through e-mails and SMSes over the past two weeks.
Metro police spokesman Wayne Minnaar confirmed that the monthly bill for issuing infringement notices by registered mail amounted to R8 million.
“The motorists continue to pay their fines, and fines are paid directly to RTIA. The city is not, therefore, in a position to provide accurate information whether there is an increase or decrease in fine payments. Compliance with law and law enforcement is important to the city and its residence and the JMPD will continue to enforce the law and motorists will be required to pay their fines.”
The RTIA deputy registrar, Sherman Amos, said on radio that fines do not expire.
However, the Aarto Act clearly states that these letters “shall” be sent by registered mail within 32 days of the infringement, meaning therefore that the legal time frames have expired if they are not sent.
In effect, this means that the fines will never be closed or loaded against a person’s ID number or eNatis records. This has been confirmed by Howard Dembovsky of the Justice Project South Africa.
He said section 31(2) of the Aarto Act states that “the laws on prescription are not applicable to penalties, and they may be collected at any time”, however, reading or citing this provision in isolation of the rest of the act is reckless and disingenuous at best.
Sections 17, 19, 20, 21 and 30 of the act lay down the procedures which must be followed in dealing with infringements. -The Star
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The AA has said that if motorists had received a fine via ordinary mail, it was not legal and therefore unenforcable. This applied to fines sent out before December 22, 2012.
“But it is important to note that you cannot simply tear it up and throw it away.
“Only traffic fines issued via registered mail are legal, but even the illegal fines remain on the system.
“The only way to remove these fines altogether is to fill in an Aarto 08 form. This form can be filled in on the Aarto website and submitted online in the event of a dispute over the legitimacy of the fine.
“The driver has 64 days from the date of offense to submit this form.”