Traffic chief doesn't walk the talk

May 9 2013
By SOLLY MAPHUMULO

 

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INLSA

RTMC spokesman Ashref Ismail still has old number plates on his Land Rover. Photo: Brenton Geach

Johannesburg - Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesman Ashref Ismail – who has been vocal about speeding motorists – has outstanding traffic fines for speeding and drives a car with invalid number plates and an expired licence disc.

Displaying false number plates is punishable by a fine or a jail term of up to three years.

The Star can reveal that Ismail has eight traffic fines and owes the Traffic Department R6 500 in fines. Five of these are outstanding and were issued between March 2009 and 2012.

The traffic fines include speeding, driving an unlicensed vehicle and parking in an unauthorised area.

In October last year, Ismail got a speeding fine after he was caught travelling between 91km/h and 95km/h in a 60km zone.

In 2009, he was fined R15 560 for speeding after he was caught travelling between 96km/h and 100km/h in a 60km/h zone.

In April last year, he was issued with a R750 fine in Tshwane for travelling between 101km/h and 105km/h in an 80km zone.

Again in April, Ismail got another R1 000 fine for driving an unlicensed vehicle and another R250 fine for the same offence.

Earlier this year, Ismail said speeding and drinking and driving had contributed heavily to the more than 800 deaths that occurred on the roads during the festive season.

“Major contributory factors remain speeds too high for circumstances, especially at night and during inclement weather, drinking and driving, drinking and walking, and dangerous overtaking on barrier lines in the face of coming traffic,” Ismail had said.

Commenting on Ismail’s fines, Howard Dembovsky, national chairman of the Justice Project South Africa, said: “When any person purports to be an enforcer of traffic laws and a proponent of road safety, as is the case with Mr Ismail, who is in charge of road traffic law enforcement co-ordination at the RTMC, saying ‘do as I say, not as I do’ is disingenuous at best.”

“This is the same man who likes to point fingers at motorists, calling them lawless and saying they have no respect for traffic laws, yet he has eight outstanding Aarto infringement notices against his name, several of which are for speeding at speeds in excess of 20-30km/h over the speed limit,” he said.

In addition, he slammed Ismail for illegally displaying invalid number plates for his motor vehicle as well as a licence disk that expired “more than 43 days ago”.

Ismail’s personalised registration plates read ASHREFGP, while his previous licence number was BD55CJGP.

Ismail said he was a motoring enthusiast and a collector of old, vintage cars and had five of them.

“If there are any fines that have been accumulated, either by the previous owner/s, myself or any of my family members, I am not aware of them.

“I will check what fine for which vehicles are outstanding, and if there are any traffic fines that are against my name that I or my family members are responsible for, (they) will be settled,” he said.

He said the Land Rover was purchased secondhand from a dealer in the south of Joburg in February.

“I requested to have my old personalised plates installed as soon as I had a chance to do so. The car is parked in the RTMC basement (which is where your informer would have seen it) and is not in use until I have had the chance to collect and install the plates,” he said.

But sources told The Star that the vehicle had been going in and out of the basement for the past three months.

“Ashref has been driving that vehicle. It’s not true that he parks it in the basement,” an insider told The Star.

“South Africa’s laws apply to everyone, not just people Mr Ismail chooses to point his finger at,” Dembovsky said.

A traffic officer, who did not want to be named, said displaying an invalid number plate was misleading and amounted to fraud.

“He should be arrested for displaying false number plates. Once you get a personalised number plate, you forfeit the previous one.”

The shareholder committee of the RTMC wants the agency, which manages the country’s roads, to shut down, saying it failed to “fulfil its purpose” in the past 10 years. But the cabinet will have the final say on the matter.

solly.maphumulo@inl.co.za

The Star