A tavern and a doctor’s surgery located next to each other … how can that possibly work? A doctor in private practice on Albertina Sisulu Road, Lewisham, recently contacted the News regarding his concern with the delivery truck that takes up several parking spaces in front of his practice when delivering goods to the next-door business.

To Dr Abdul Patel, a medical practitioner, having the truck take up these parking spaces while offloading means that he cannot park in front of his office.

“The worst of all is there is a sign on the parking that says ‘Doctors only’,” said Patel. According to Papi Motaung, the spokesperson for the Mogale City Traffic Department, the penalty for parking illegally in a ‘Doctors only’ parking space is R200.

The problem, said Patel, has been handled with utter ignorance by both the Traffic Department and the owner of the SAB delivery trucks.

However, upon investigation, the News discovered that Paul Vassen, Manager of SAB deliveries had tried to come to a mutual agreement with Patel.

“Once Patel contacted us, we reached out to him,” Vassen said. “We sent him a notice saying that from a certain date we will only be delivering loads between 6am and 8am each morning to ensure that the parking space is not taken up by the time his practice opens [8.30am].”

Vassen also said that it is not necessarily only his drivers who obstruct the doctor’s parking, and that the loading bay itself is a little small for a large delivery truck.

“The drivers park in the loading zone, but because the space was intended for a smaller truck, the vehicle’s back end occupies an additional one and a half parking spaces as well.”

According to Motaung, even though the truck does park in the loading zone, its back end must not overlap the doctors parking as it is against traffic regulations. “The perpetrator will then be given a R200 fine,” Motaung said.

When visiting the practice on Thursday, 3 November, the News noticed that patients were parked in the loading bay.

This is a traffic offence that could result in the driver receiving a R500 fine.

The News would like to open up this discussion to its readers. Tell us what you think. Should the phrase ‘Respect thy neighbour’ also be applicable when it comes to business? When do differences in opinion become a case of mud-slinging? Leave your comment in the section below the article.

Also Read:

Former Norie pupil dies in head on collision

Man critical after roll-over accident

Car rolls through complex wall

Runaway truck slams into taxi