Traffic cops ‘focus on making money’

The number of speeding fines increases because JMPD is chasing revenue, according to the Justice Project South Africa.

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Johannesburg - Speed-mad Joburg motorists racked up a whopping R4.4 million in traffic fines last year.

There were about 6 million fines captured in Gauteng, of which about 5.1 million were written in Joburg.

So says the Road Traffic Infringement Agency’s annual report for 2014/15, which showed traffic fines from the Joburg Metro Police Department, Tshwane Metro Police Department, Gauteng Department of Community Safety and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).

Almost 4.4 million of the Joburg fines were for exceeding the speed limit. Of Tshwane’s approximately 950 000 fines, nearly 502 000 were for speeding.

Gauteng community safety recorded a total of about 151 000 with 19 775 for speeding and, in contrast, RTMC’s total of 35 552 included no speeding offences.

Despite the shocking high number of fines issued for speeding, JMPD spokesman Wayne Minnaar said this was an indication of effective law enforcement.

“Many Joburg motorists take chances and speed, but get caught either by camera or physical enforcement. That is why there are so many speeding tickets issued in Johannesburg,” he said.

“There are about 4.8 million vehicles in Joburg and 800 000 drive into the city daily. As a result, there is more traffic in Joburg than Tshwane.”

However, according to Howard Dembovsky of the Justice Project South Africa, the number of speeding fines in Joburg increases every year because JMPD is enriching private companies and chasing revenue.

“They have the most speed cameras and contractors. It is no surprise that Tshwane is bigger than Joburg but has millions fewer speeding fines,” said Dembovsky. He explained that the number of speeding fines is high because “JMPD is more interested in making money than reducing road incidents”.

“When JMPD chief Zwelibanzi Nyanda told the public protector that, if traffic fine revenue declined in Joburg, it would affect rates and taxes, it became clear that JMPD is more concerned about money than reducing incidents on the road,” said Dembovsky.

He explained that most of the fines for speeding were captured by cameras. “When you take a photograph of a speeding car, you can’t do anything if the driver is under the influence of alcohol or their licence has been suspended. The same driver could be involved in an accident later. JMPD should focus more on physical enforcement of the law,” he said. “JMPD doesn’t seem to understand that the purpose of law enforcement is to reduce incidents on the road, not make money for the city.”

The managing director of driving.co.za, Rob Handfield-Jones, shared Dembovsky’s view that JMPD focused on speeding fines to make money: “JMPD prosecutes speeding mostly because it is easy and profitable for them.” “Focusing more on stopping drivers and checking the roadworthiness of their cars, licences, alcohol in system and their fitness to drive will save more lives than taking photographs of speeding cars for a revenue.”

Minnaar confirmed more speeding infractions in Joburg were captured by camera, but insisted having more speed cameras than in other parts of Gauteng wasn’t about revenue generation, but rather “setting up cameras where there are speed complaints to help reduce incidents on the road”.

rabbie.serumula@inl.co.za

Saturday Star