14 889 Speeding Fines Issued in Knysna in July 2014
It seems too many to be true but Knysna’s Traffic & Law Enforcement department issued 14 889 speeding fines in July this year. The total revenue collected from speedsters was almost R1.2million which means the annual gain would be in the region of R20million.
As large as this amount is, the majority of monies are not being collected. Although fines can take up to 2 years to be collected, there would be continuous month revenue i.e. it doesn’t matter from when it originated for us to work out an average of what is coming in. Dividing the tickets by revenue results in only R79. With fines being far higher than that, it means that the majority of fines are not being paid e.g. if the majority of fines were R400 that’d mean that only 20% of revenue is being collected.
The radical difference between fines and revenue has made the Auditor General insist that future reports reflect exactly what should be received versus what is being gained.
It is obvious that income is being mostly derived from unmanned speed cameras as revenue generated from other traffic violations was a mere 12% of that amount. Oddly (or deliberately) these other offences are not listed by the number of violations or a description of the violations themselves.
After 25 days, Richard Meyer, the Manger for Traffic, has failed to acknowledge the 25 questions from readers that were sent to him. The arrogance of the Knysna Municiplaity seems to extend to every department.
There is also a strong rumour that the Knysna SAPS are about to dump hundreds of drunken driving charges as they are now years behind on blood work and have no hope of catching up.
For drivers, there is some relief as Deputy Mayor Esme Edge stated in a Community Services meeting on September 9 that only 5-8% of drivers realise that they can reduce a fine by 50% if they contact the prosecutor within 30 days.
To understanding what is legal and illegal regarding speeding cameras, visit ‘Speeding Fine Rules South Africa’.
In some countries, the fine is based on your income. So many rich people speed because the R500 is no big deal, but for many of us, that is a huge chunk of income. If the idea of a fine is a deterrent, then it should be done this way, but I am afraid that fines are seen essentially as a form of revenue.
Thoroughly agree. The issue has arisen before. It’s why i’m against it.
I always write a letter to a fine and plead leniency and it is automatically halved. I then pay the reduced rate. I do wonder what this money is used for.
It’s fascinating how many of us thought that the prosecutor was being a nice person when, apparently, it’s law. I wonder how all money in Knysna is used.
So, 480 tickets a day. And these are ‘short burst’ camera catches, given that the cops don’t sit there for the entire day. Although these are further evidence of over-zealous traffic policing, I don’t believe in not paying the fines. Either challenge or pay. I’m surprised in fact, that nationally, there are not tougher penalties imposed on people who don’t pay. Like refusal to renew driving licences. Or if fine unpaid for X number of months, it doubles. And after X more months, the driver faces prison. Why do I support such action? Because in all likelihood, the Municipality currently builds into its revenue calculations, a high percentage of non payers. This in turn leads to the heavier presence of speed cameras on our roads, which none of us wants.
Part of this line of blogs has been to question if the speeding equipment is being used legally. A second part is to understand how our municipality works and wonder why there’s secrecy. Thirdly, are the revenues collected being used wisely.
Furthermore, a demerit system was supposed to have been installed nationwide 3 years ago. What happened to it? That would have been a far fairer system than upping fines which would damage the poor and make no difference on the rich in faster cars.
The time is here for a rate payers union
Theoretically that’s what the Knysna Ratepayers’ Association should be… theoretically.