"Pay speed fines" – MEC Shongwe

28 September 2011

Mpumalanga Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Vusi Shongwe calls on all motorists to pay their speed fines issued against them for violating traffic laws as it may lead to arrests and prosecution.  

This comes after a statement issued by the Democratic Alliance (DA) last week calling for non-payment of speed fines in the province.

“It is crime not to pay traffic violation fines and people will be arrested and charged for contempt of court if they heed the DA’s call. The department will not allow irresponsible calls from anyone that will put the lives of our communities in danger,” said Shongwe.

Shongwe added that if speed fines were not paid, motorists would disobey traffic laws and it would increase accidents and carnages on our roads. 

“Accidents on our roads are a great concern as the country is losing too many lives due to accidents caused mostly by excessive speeding and we all need to put politics aside and focus on encouraging responsible driving habits and a change of attitude in our people,” warned Shongwe. 

He added that people who are making noise about the speeding fines are those who are obviously speeding and they must therefore pay the fines, failure of which, they will be arrested. If they want to avoid fines, they must abide by the rules and the cameras would be harmless to them. 

The department has also noted that some individuals claim that the use of speed cameras in the province is illegal. It must be clear to the public that there is no authority that declared speed cameras in Mpumalanga illegal. The department is continuing using the devices in compliance with the National Road Traffic Act and directives issued by relevant authorities from time to time.

With regard to the purportedly unanswered questions sent to the MEC by the DA, the department wants to put it on record that the questions were duly answered by MEC Shongwe during a Legislature sitting in Dr JS Moroka Municipality two weeks ago. Members of the DA were present at the sitting, so it is mischievous for the DA to claim that the MEC failed to respond to the questions.

The account number the DA wants investigated is on the name of the department and currently administered by government and the department will not stop any person who has the necessary authority to investigate it if there is a need. 

Meanwhile, yesterday morning a group of taxi drivers approached traffic officers who were on duty in Kabokweni, claiming that what the officers were doing on the road was illegal, and that they owed them money they (taxi drivers) paid for traffic fines.

The MEC blamed the incident to the statement issued by the DA, saying that it is already causing chaos and misleading people.

“It should be noted that the DA is not the ruling party and they do not have any authority to make such an announcement. We call upon the DA to apologize publicly for misleading the public and causing confusion among community members.

Such behaviour will not be tolerated, and it should be noted that it is the function of traffic officers to inspect vehicles and monitor all other traffic violations and the DA must respect that,” said angry Shongwe.

He warned that what the taxi drivers were doing was against the law and they will be arrested should they continue with their illegal activities.

Enquiries:

Joseph Mabuza
Tel: 013 766 4055
Cell: 082 678 1450

Issued by Mpumalanga Department of Safety, Security and Liaison

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