Thousands of Eastern Cape civil servants flouting the rules of the road have run up a bill of more than R1.1m in traffic fines.
The fines were accumulated between April 1 2016 and October 31 2018 while the workers were driving state-owned vehicles. These details are contained in written responses by transport MEC Weziwe Tikana to the DA’s shadow MEC of transport Marshall von Buchenroder.
The figures show that during the 2016-17 financial year R394,050 worth of fines was incurred and that the following year a R406,737 bill was racked up.
Tikana’s reply states that the situation is as bad this year as between April 1 to October 31, there was already R339,900 worth of additional fines accumulated.
In the same period, the state had to write off 83 vehicles that had been involved in major accidents. The figures also show that 291 would be disposed of.
The transport department is responsible for signing off lease agreements on behalf of all government departments, and statistics show that 2,976 such vehicles are currently in use. The state owns another 109.
Currently traffic officers fine Government Fleet Management Services, which then tries to identify the driver of the vehicle, as traffic officers are not always able to identify the driver of the vehicle. Once traced, the driver is liable to pay the fine.
Where the driver cannot not be identified, the fines are billed for the account of the respective departments, who then have to recoup the costs from their employees.
Reacting to the figures, Von Buchenroder said “these fines boil down to fruitless and wasteful expenditure by the departments, and show complete disregard for law and order.
“With departmental budgets under pressure, this wasteful expenditure amount is irresponsible and an additional expense the province should not be footing at this time.”
Von Buchenroder said he would be submitting follow up questions to the MEC for clarity on which departments are at fault, and which drivers are repeat offenders.
Provincial transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said: “As disturbing as these figures may be, we are encouraged that it’s an indication of the hard work and the no fear and no favour stance taken by our law enforcement on the province’s roads.
“We urge them to continue on that path, and we’ll call upon those using state vehicles to at the very least respect state property and the rule of the road in general.”
He said compared to previous years, it has largely remained consistent, “but each of the departments are doing all in their power to sensitise their drivers to be a bit more responsible on the roads”.
“It is hoped that the stringent measure to recover the money owed will serve as a deterrent,” Binqose said...