Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has announced that motorists who had their cellphones impounded before October 2014 could get them back for half the price before they are auctioned off.
The City's Safety and Security Directorate has warned motorists that this offer is only available for a limited time and they have “one last opportunity to reclaim their devices before the hammer falls”. Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security alderman JP Smith said the city's Traffic Service department would be auctioning the first 500 impounded cellphones.
He said motorists whose devices were impounded between 1 July 2012 and 30 September 2014 “will be charged a reduced impoundment release fee of R550 should they wish to reclaim their property”.
Furthermore, they don't need to pay the fine to reclaim their phones. Smith said since the City's Traffic By-law was first introduced in July 2012, traffic officials have “impounded thousands of cellphones”. He said that it was estimated that there were about 6000 cellphones sitting in storage at the City's traffic pound in Ndabeni. Smith said this number excluded devices that still have to be transferred there.
He pointed out that the City is “allowed to sell any impounded property within three months of the impoundment date”. However, there was a delay in the processes around “fines attached to the contravention to run their full course in the courts, as well as due to the need to effect the removal of personal data before the device can be sold on auction”.
The auction, he said, would “most likely” take place before the end of the year as a service provider has been appointed to clear data from all the phones. For phones that were confiscated after September 2014, motorists would have to pay the full R1100 release fee. Smith said “any devices not sold will be donated to a charity that can use them for their fieldworkers or activists”.
ANA
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