United in their defiance, seven women from Harding Street businesses say they will not pay the parking fines issued by Umtshezi Municipality’s Protection Services last Monday.
This was after traffic officers found that their vehicles had breached the one-hour parking rule in the main street.
Fines of R250 and R200 were dished out to those who were found disobeying. Speaking to a reporter from the Estcourt News last Tuesday, all of the women said that safety was the number one reason why they preferred to park their vehicles in the street where they work.
They all said that they feared their cars being broken into if they parked in Victoria Street, one resident mentioned that her mags and windscreen wipers were stolen when she parked in front of the municipality.
Another said that the parking space provided for a clothing store was unsafe and cited an incident where her Area Manager’s car was broken into and personal belongings and the store’s stock was stolen.
“My Area Manager had to pay for the stolen stock. If items are stolen from our cars, we can’t afford to pay for it,” she said.
“If we are not allowed to park in Harding Street, the municipality must provide safe parking for us, which we don’t mind paying for. Instead of issuing fines, the municipality needs to come up with a practical solution together with us,” said one of the store managers.
Another concern that was brought up was the ‘inconsistency’ of the fines issued.
“Those drivers parked on the American Swiss side of the road were fined R200 and those parked on the opposite side were fined R250. This is ridiculous!” exclaimed a complainant.
Some of the women remarked that they were soft targets.
“Why don’t the traffic officers give tickets in Alexandra Street? Are they scared?” asked a resident.
Responding to these and other questions, Umtshezi’s Municipal Manager Nonhlanhla Njoko said that a request had been made to the affected residents to submit details of complaints so that an investigation could be done.
“Road users should abide by the law otherwise they will have to face the consequences of failing to comply with the laws applicable to the roads however, once these complaints will be investigated by the Corporate Services Director Mr HB Chotoo once the information has been received,” commented Ms Njoko.