Traffic fine shambles: Gauteng deserves an explanation

The people of Gauteng deserve an explanation for the near collapse of AARTO, as revealed by the DA in leaked documents yesterday.

While the government continues with its stubborn campaign to implement e-tolling, these documents reveal that they have neither the means nor the systems in place to implement the R10 billion project.

It is high time that the Department of Transport and the Gauteng Provincial Government stop taking the people of Gauteng as fools. They must answer for their failure to take road law enforcement seriously and keep our roads safe, and they must tell us what they intend to do to ensure that it is fixed immediately.

The documents released by the DA revealed that:

• In 2011/12 89,54% of required payments in terms of AARTO remained unpaid by road users; and that the figure was 87,56% in the 2012/13 financial year;
• The total amount that remains unpaid over these two years is R2,096 billion;
• The 50% discount which is applicable to payments made within 32 days are completely ignored and that people "simply prefer not to pay at all";
• The sending out of courtesy letters for payment was suspended in July 2012 because of a lack of funds. The total amount over these two years for the sending out these letters was more than R30 million;
• Only 0.58% of all required enforcement orders were distributed in 2011/12 and 2.4% in 2012/13.
• JMPD has had "wasteful" expenditure of approximately R60m up to the end of June 2013 as the 2.4 million cases mailed out are outside  the timeframes  in terms of the AARTO Act and regulations;
• The compliance figure or payment rate of infringement notices has dropped to less than 5% and is as low as 1%;
• If it is not adequately addressed before the end of July 2013, "the Johannesburg Metro Police Department will be required to stop all law enforcement or to revert back to the illegal process of sending out infringement notices by normal mail".

Drastic action is required to protect the people of Gauteng. We cannot allow people to suffer because the Gauteng government and the Transport Minister will not admit what a monumental mistake they have made by pushing ahead with AARTO.

The people of Gauteng deserve a full explanation, and nothing less.

Statement issued by Mmusi Maimane, DA Premier Candidate for Gauteng, August 29 2013

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