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Salagatle!


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Monday, March 05, 2012

Traffic violations in South Africa

It is more serious, in RSA, to drive over the speed limit, than it is to commit what would be considered a "conventional" crime. Possession of drugs, burglary, robbery, assault, all have a serious nature, but the primary concern of the authorities is to make money from speeding. Not you common day vehicular offenses like driving an unroadworthy car, broken  not working light/s, no spare wheel, rusted body parts falling off while driving, broken exhausts, excessive smoke (burning oil), overloading, transporting passengers on the back of an open truck / bakkie. No, speeding is the worst evil of all! It is also the easiest target for the authorities. They can sit under a bush, take a photo of the speeding vehicle, with automated time / date / speed stamp, and send you a fine. If they had to do the other stuff, they would a) have to actually pull the offenders off the road, so a physical inspection, KNOW THE RELEVANT RULES AND LAWS, and write out a ticket to issue the driver of said vehicle. Hell, that's a lot of effort!

So there are some fundamental legal requirements with AARTO (LIU) have to meet for the fines to be legal. One of them is that the notice of the offense must be issued with9n 30 days. This they don't get right most of the time. Then, they MUST send the notice by registered mail. That is so they can a) prove it was sent, and b) prove it was received on the other side. If they don't use this method to deliver, they can't prove that they issued the notice within 30 days, so it becomes obsolete. This requirement too they fail on miserable.

So I have been getting some sms's from a law firm that has been mandated by the AARTO offices to collect outstanding fines on their behalf. This is a typical sms:-

MMT Attorneys instructed to collect outstanding Traffic Fine of 250, Infringement no: 02XX99XXX001X83XXX,.Pay@Post Office/Absa/Traffic Dept/www.aarto.cov.za or Call 0873535029, Ref Uxx7x0xx , admin@mmtlaw.co.za.

I have received quite a few of these sms's over the past few weeks, mainly because traffic violations that I receive are normal post, not delivered as per the required Registered mail, so for all intents and purposes, they do not exist!!

However, I went to the aforementioned Attorneys web site, and emailed them the following:-


I have again received SMS's from yourselves regarding collection of funds for so called outstanding fines.
And, as before I say:-
If you cannot send me proof that I either:-
a) Received the traffic violation notice via a registered letter. or
b) Received a summons (signed for), then I have no interest in your sms's.

In fact, I consider them to be a form of harassment, and will take up advice in this regard should you persist.

My ID number is xxx82xx04xxx3.
Look up any "outstanding traffic violation" notices which might be mine, and if they comply with my two conditions above, then please send me proof of same at this email address.

X Xxxxxxx



And they responded:-


Good Day Ms. Xxxxxxx,

Kindly make a representation to RTIA via their website where you will find a link to retrieve forms for representation. From our side we assume that the registered mail was sent to you as your matter is at enforcement stage(The full proof system ensures that there was compliance with all legislative requirements(ACT 46 of 1998) including registered post) meaning that your renewals for driver’s license or disc renewal or any transaction with the traffic department is barred. The summons is what should be contained in the letter to be collected at the post office meaning your infringement notice. If you mean summons to appear before court you can fill the form on the website and go to court to state your case.

In the circumstances proceed to make representations to RTIA and CC us on the mail. After that is done we shall stay the matter for 30 days for an outcome ,to wait for the outcome of the representation being to proceed or infringement withdrawn. We urge you to action this immediately as any delay could lead to your matter being escalated to warrant(Civil) and your goods may be attached and sold by public auction.

Kind Regards,

MMT Incorporated.
Matlaweng Magolego
Director
Tel: (012) 345 5530
Fax: (012) 345 6639
e-mail: magolego@mmtlaw.co.za

And I replied:-

Thank you for your response.
Until I receive proof that the documentation was issued / sent / presented to me in the correct manner, I have no further interest in this subject.
As for issuing of license renewals, and or other transactions with traffic department, it is against my constitutional rights to prevent any such transactions from taking place! Unless there is concrete proof / evidence that I have received said summonses by the correct manner, and once I have, I still have the right to make representation in a court of law.
 
Thanx

And they said:-

If you follow the advise given, it will be for your own good. You can also view your infringement / summons on the AATRO website.
 
Please make the representation. It is your constitutional right to challenge the RTIA so do so in the prescribed manner for your own good.
 
Regards,
MMT Incorporated.
Matlaweng Magolego
Director
Tel: (012) 345 5530
Fax: (012) 345 6639
e-mail:
magolego@mmtlaw.co.za
So, we are no where nearer to a resolution. I have no intention to make representations to anyone, and will await the formal Court Summons, after which I will do whats required to get it revoked. This will include, but not be limited to:-
Requesting a copy of the device's calibration certificate - every 6 months!
Requesting a copy of the device users "Special Competency"certificate
Requesting a copy of their "Approval to trap" permission letter - this specifies exactly where they can trap, and limits them to a certain space on a road.
Check that the correct method of delivery of notification was utilised within the stipulated 30 days.

Going to have some fun with this one methinks.....
There is also a website where information about these traffic violations and their legal / illegal status can be found.

http://www.trafficfinelaw.co.za/

Salagatle!


4 comments:

Jayne said...

You go for it! As far as the law goes, you are going by the book. These friggin legal firms that are popping up simply use intimidation in order to get people to coff up.

I've had 2 msgs in the last couple of months, also from some 'attorneys' (read; debt collectors) who are threatening me with legal action for not paying an Edgars account. I ignored the first message but got pissed off with the 2nd one. I sent an email, requesting a copy of the contract agreement which I'm alleged to have with Edgars. Their response was to phone me, which meant that I was footing the R6 a minute call (cos I'm on roaming). I had to ASK if my call was being recorded - which the floppy said was............I should've been informed that immediately! When I asked for a copy of the contract, this boon said "no you can't have that, but I can send you statements."
I let her have it both barrels. I haven't had an Edgars account in over 20yrs & haven't lived in SA (apart from the recent stint in Schlepalale) for over 10yrs, so where the fuck does this account come from?
It aint me, thats for sure & I'll be fucked if I'm gonna hand over one cent for something I know nothing about! Go ahead, sue me.....but they'll see their arses in court!

Wreckless Euroafrican said...

I would love to get a letter of demand from a company I don't have an account with! I have a tame lawyer (and now a tame attorney as well) who I'd love to give work to. We would both make money out of it!!

Salagatle!

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Salagatle!