The article “R854m in traffic fines written off’ (Cape Argus, April 26) refers: please allow me to clarify a few aspects.
First, no traffic fines are “written off”, as stated in the article. Debt is only written off after due process in terms of the City’s policy and judicial processes. Provision is made for the impairment of traffic fine debt.
This is only an estimate based on past experiences of unrecoverable debt as prescribed by Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (Grap) accounting standards. The accounting for traffic fines complies with National Treasury guidelines as well as Grap.
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In other words, the amount quoted in the article does not indicate a number of fines to be written off, as the journalist suggested, but in fact, reflects the likely amount that the City will not be able to recover once the warrants of arrest are issued for scofflaws who have not paid their fines or appeared in court as was required by law, or have expired and can no longer be executed because the people in question could not be found.
Secondly, the impoundment of vehicles is not for a set period, or for just any traffic violation. A motorist is allowed to reclaim their vehicle as soon as they have paid the fine for the transgression that resulted in the impoundment, as well as the impoundment release fee.
As for the comments attributed to Mr Stenslunde of the Constantia Ratepayers and Residents Association, when one looks at the full life cycle of a fine, which could be up to four years, then our collection rate is in fact above 30%.
While it is not great, it is better than that of other metros in the country and something that we strive to improve on annually - in spite of limited budgets and resources.
Numerous private sector companies and entities (including the sheriffs of the court) have approached the City, believing that they could increase this collection rate, but none of them have been able to do so.
Their ideas have either not complied with the requirements of national legislation or have simply failed to recover more fines than the City is able to do by itself.
There is, in fact, an additional R4million on the draft budget out for public participation to allow us to recruit more staff to increase this collection rate and hold errant drivers accountable.
Traffic fine income in Cape Town has improved in recent years, from just over R142m in 2013/14 to R272m in 2016/17. This is as a result of numerous interventions like the Admin Mark on eNaTIS, the introduction of an SMS reminder service, and ramping up Operation Reclaim which tracks down warrant evaders.
Further developments are in the pipeline and will be communicated in due course.
* Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member: Safety and Security; and Social Services.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Cape Argus