DEAR Editor,-
I read with interest about the family who received about 293 traffic fines for the same offence. The same thing started to happen to me recently. I received a fine of R100 which I appealed and on September 26 I received written notification from HCM stating that the case was cancelled/withdrawn. The very next day I received the very same fine yet again, which I promptly sent back to HCM.
Mr Mbili, I believe that this type of incompetent ‘faux pas’ cannot be anything else but horribly embarrassing for any manager. Maybe you should do what DD Naidoo is doing and get rid of the ‘dead wood’. We have national and international tourists holidaying on our coast, who read these letters and, no doubt, with great derision tell everyone about this type of incompetence when they get home, be it in South Africa or overseas.
Or, just maybe, it is not an incompetent ‘faux pas’, knowing full well that most people just pay the fines to avoid the inconvenience of going to court, with a possible few postponements. Think about it, 293 traffic fines at R100 per fine amounts to a whopping R29 300, deducting the original R100 fine, leaves a non-taxable profit of R29 200!
I, for one, would like a thorough investigation into this matter and the outcome to be published in this newspaper for all of us to read.
We appear to be regressing with modern technology.
PAT MUUREN
Hibberdene
