- 8 Nov 2013
- Cape Argus
- Anél Lewis METRO WRITER anel.lewis@inl.co.za
Thousands of arrest warrants ‘going stale’ because they are not being signed off
From page 1 ABOUT 44 000 motorists are driving “scot-free” because the courts have only been able to deal with about 500 cases this year, says the City of Cape Town.
PICTURE: ROSS JANSENCAUGHT Officer John Bezuidenhout, fines a driver for crossing a solid line
JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said: “It’s an absolute crisis. These are large fines and motorists are told to appear in court but they can’t because of the backlog.”
He said thousands of arrest warrants, worth about R300 million, were “going stale” because they were not being signed off by magistrates.
There were currently about 430 000 warrants of arrest of which only 207 000 had been signed and received.
The city is so concerned about the court backlog that it is in talks with the Department of Justice and the provincial government about appointing additional magistrates to hear the cases and work through the backlog - and has offered to pay for them from the city’s coffers.
Smith blamed new national regulations, that called for all motorists who exceeded the speed limit by 30km or more to appear in court, for adding to the crisis.
“Unfortunately this has had a huge impact on our courts as a large percentage of cases need to go to court.”
To deal with this, the city had already employed extra prosecutors and administrative staff from its legal services directorate, said Smith. “Now we are waiting for the magistrates.” Negotiations with the Department of Justice were “slow”, the city said.
A report on traffic fines submitted yesterday to the safety and security portfolio committee, said the city can only take strong action against an offender when a warrant of arrest has been issued.
Traffic chief Heathcliff Thomas said: “Unfortunately the motoring public don’t treat fines with importance but with complete contempt because there are no consequences.”
Marius van Tonder, of safety and security, said: “A warrant of arrest is the last step in a long process where the offender chooses to ignore the fine notices and reminders set, as well as a summons to appear in court which is personally served.”
It is also one of several reasons why the city’s income from traffic fines has dropped by a third, from R143 040 297 in the 2011/2012 financial year to R99 381 526 for 2012/2013.
Van Tonder said there was a “worsening culture” of non-payment.
Other reasons for the sharp decline included the use of visible traffic officers rather than camera fines and technical problems with a new system which delayed the sending out of fine notices and printing of summonses.
He said the substantial reduction and withdrawal of fines by court officials had cost the city nearly R10m in lost revenue. Of the 118 000 presentations to the court about fines, 25 000 were withdrawn.
Van Tonder said the department was also hamstrung by the “poor accuracy” of address data on the eNatis system, which made it difficult to post fines and contact offenders.
Smith is working with Transport MEC Robin Carlisle on new legislation that would “close the loopholes” that help motorists dodge their fines.
He said motorists would soon have to provide Fica-style proof of address when registering their vehicles, to deter them from giving false details.
Officials would soon be able to impound the vehicles of motorists with outstanding fines, and there would be greater visibility with the introduction of traffic reservists.
Meanwhile the city is starting to see the results of its “admin mark”, introduced in March 2013 to penalise errant offenders.
With the admin mark, a motorist with an outstanding warrant of arrest will have a block placed in his account, meaning he won’t be able to renew his car licence, or do any transaction that involves the eNatis system anywhere in the country.
Since the introduction of the admin mark, the income from postal payments from traffic fines at Gallows Hill has increased from R300 000 a month to R1.8 million. “As a direct result, the income at that office has quadrupled,” said Thomas.
Smith said: “There is no lack of access to places of payment. If you are not paying it is because you can’t be bothered.”
Operation Reclaim, which targets motorists with outstanding warrants of arrest, has led to the arrest of more than 16 000 people between June and October.
Smith said the city had recorded nearly a half a million traffic offences in the months between July and September, and made more than 18 500 arrests. Most of these offences – more than 257 000 – were for speeding.
Others areas of concern include the high number of unlicensed drivers and vehicles on the road, and the number of people caught driving without wearing seatbelts.
