Pretoria - never tear up a traffic fine in front of the issuing officer.
It can cause you a stint in a police cell and result in a criminal record as the paper is regarded as “state property”. This is what Percy Morapedi Koji, 31, of Johannesburg, has discovered the hard way.
Koji had to turn to the North Gauteng High Court to have a R500 admission of guilt fine set aside and have his name removed from the register of previous convictions.
On September 12, 2009, he was was travelling from Polokwane to Tzaneenwhen he was stopped at a roadblock.
Speaking in Tsonga, police asked for his driving licence.
“I asked them to speak Sepedi or English, but they kept speaking in Tsonga.”
They inspected his car and discovered his vehicle licence had expired.
Koji explained that he had tried to renew it at two different traffic departments, but the system had been offline.
“Police tried to extort money from me, saying if I did not give them R200, I will not go through the roadblock. I refused and was issued with a R100 fine.
“On my way back to my vehicle I tore up the fine because I was frustrated as they tried to extort money from me.”
“A uniformed policeman ran up to me, asking what I have done with the paper. I said I had torn it up as I was angry.
“He dragged me to the police van.”
Koji said he was held in the back of the van until police had searched all the other vehicles.
He was then taken to the police station and charged with malicious damage to State property.
He was placed in a dirty cell.
“The conditions were bad. There were no proper beds and the blankets were smelly. I had to sleep on the concrete floor and had no idea when I’d be freed.”
Koji thought he was paying R500 bail and said he was never informed he was signing an admission of guilt form.
He only realised this when he applied for work but was declined because he had a criminal record. He is now struggling to find a job.
The office of the director of public prosecutions replied to a letter of Wits Law Clinic – which is assisting Koji – conceding his guilt ought to be set aside, as it held no merit.
But it did nothing further to assist and Koji had to turn to court to clear his name.
Pretoria News