If you live in Joburg, consider yourself lucky. The cops have stuffed up big time and more than R2,4 million in traffic fines are being written off.

On the other hand, the JMPD are expressing their concerns over the traffic system they are enforcing. They have spent more than R60 million issuing fines that are void because they didn’t use registered mail, and issued fines “outside of the prescription period.” This was revealed by the Department of Transport in a status report on the Administrative Adjudication of Road Offences (Aarto) system.

The report also says:

The cases that cannot be complied with in terms of an enforcement order will eventually need to [be] cancelled/withdrawn from the e-Natis [Electronic National Traffic Information] system,

Joburg and Tshwane are running pilot programmes for Aarto and the government is worried that this system won’t work when rolled out for the rest of the nation.

Here are just a few problems they have found so far:

• It took almost three years to set up the system and finances for posting first infringement notices by registered mail
• Less than 5% of people who receive first infringements by mail comply
• The Road Traffic Infringement Agency is required to send courtesy letters and enforcement orders, otherwise infringement notices become invalid

The Joburg police issue about 400,000 fines per month.

[Source: Times Live]