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Nelson Mandela Bay Motorists Warned to Pay Fines or Face Arrest

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This notice serves to confirm that the procedures followed in the issuing of all traffic fines in the Nelson Mandela Bay area of jurisdiction are fully compliant with the prescripts of applicable bylaws and legislation.

Any person who has received a summons to appear in court must either appear in court or pay the fine before the specified date.

Failure to pay or appear in court on the court date will result in a warrant of arrest being issued.

Local Businessman Pieter Swanepoel of Traffic Violation Specialists who in January 2017 launched his second application against the Municipality to have all Traffic related fines and summonses quashed publicly contended that they should be withdrawn.

He further stated that all summonses were illegally issued and that they should be withdrawn.

Mr. Swanepoel’s legal representative has now informed him that his application is fatally flawed and he has withdrawn the application and tendered to pay the Municipality’s costs.

This is the second time that such an application has been withdrawn.

Reckless statements encouraging the public not to pay their fines have had a huge impact on the legal processes of the Municipality in which hundreds of thousands of fines have not been paid. Currently only 25% of people who have received fines or summonses to appear in court actually pay their fines or appear in court.

To date a staggering R54, 8 million Rand of outstanding warrants have not been paid, relating to approximately 64,000 outstanding cases.

More than R347 million Rand of unpaid fines, 1.1 million cases in total (this excludes warrant related cases) are currently registered in the system.

These have not yet been converted to warrants and accordingly the public can still pay them or appear in court on the said court dates stipulated in the fines.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has successfully engaged with the National Department of Transport to implement the Natis Block on the relicensing of vehicles which means that owners of vehicles, who have warrants outstanding, will not be able to relicence their motor vehicles registered on their names, until the outstanding warrants have been settled.

The Traffic Department and the newly established Metro Police have in past 8 months issued thousands of fines in terms of the National Traffic Act and our legislated bylaws order to make our streets safe and address ongoing challenges of lawlessness.

As a result of the numerous representations received in the office of the Mayor and my office, I have requested the Chief Traffic Officer to apply to Chief Magistrate to increase certain fines that have a major influence on road safety within the Metro.

The following fines have been increased with immediate effect;

  • Driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license increased from R1000.00 to R1500.00.
  • Failing to comply with a stop sign increased from R1000.00 to R1500.00.
  • Failing to stop at a red traffic signal R1000.00 to R1500.00.
  • Holding a cell phone device in your hand or any part of body whilst driving from R800.00 to R1500.00.

The Traffic Department in conjunction with the Metro Police will be manning roadblocks over the next 3 months. Any person stopped who has a warrant of arrest outstanding will be arrested and brought before court.

I earnestly request all those of our residents who have outstanding fines to settle them before the court date or then appear in court to state your case. If you are aware that you have a warrant of outstanding please settle it immediately.

The Metro Police have also acquired 4 “ghost” vehicles that will be used to prosecute offenders who ignore red traffic signals, stop streets , speed limit or any other traffic violations.

Members of the Public who want to pay their outstanding traffic fines can also pay via the Municipal Website under the heading EServices subsection E Fines.

The Budget and Treasury Directorate will also be installing speedpoint machines at the Traffic Department and Customare Care centres to assist with the payment of fines.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.