Son arrested for ‘unpaid’ traffic fine
To avoid arrest, proof of an EFT payment for a traffic fine must be sent to the law enforcement administration office.
Two Westbrook parents were shocked to receive a frantic phone call from their son (22) who had been arrested by a traffic officer opposite MacDonalds in Ballito for not paying an outstanding fine of R300 on Sunday, February 28.
The mother, Angela Getkate, said she had paid the fine her son had incurred in September 2014 within ten days via EFT into the KwaDukuza Municipality bank account.
Her son asked her to send proof of payment which she did via WhatsApp and her son was released.
However, when she phoned the KwaDukuza law enforcement administration section to check if the EFT payment had been acknowledged by the relevant section, she was told there was still a warrant for her son’s arrest pending.
“My concerns are: what would my son have done if we had not been home and available to help, and do the traffic police have the right to arrest someone without proper investigation?” asked Getkate.
KwaDukuza traffic department‘s assistant director Danie van Huyssteen explained that although the relevant fine was paid into the municipal bank account no proof of payment of the fine was forwarded to the relevant office to be captured on the system.
Subsequently a warrant of arrest was authorised as that there was no proof of payment, other than a payment into the council bank account.
“The offender was stopped at a roadblock for the collection of outstanding fines in Ballito. He was asked to pull over because he had a warrant of arrest.
“He was able to contact his family to send him his proof of payment and was then released and the admin staff took the copy of his proof of payment,” Van Huyssteen said.
He said proof of an EFT payment must be sent with a copy of the relevant written notice to the law enforcement administration (lawenforcementinquiries@kwadukuza.gov.za).
“Fines can also be paid at SAPS police stations in the Lower Tugela Magisterial District (Umhlali, KwaDukuza, (Stanger) New-Ark and Glendale or at the KwaDukuza (Stanger) Magistrate’s Court.”
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