Speed cameras issue over 1,000 erroneous tickets per month

The Star
Sep. 20, 2005

Johannesburg motorists who have been caught speeding by camera should check their fines carefully.

In recent weeks two cases have been brought to the attention of The Star where motorists were fined R100 for travelling more than 80km/h on the M1 North between the Glenhove and Eleventh Avenue offramps.

The speed limit, in fact, is 100km/h.

Irate motorist Ronnie Frank said he was surprised when he received his ticket.

"I know the area well and travel that highway almost every day and have never noticed an 80km sign. I went back and checked and there is no such sign.

"I then spent hours phoning every department. None was helpful until I spoke to Johannesburg metro police department spokesperson Wayne Minnaar, who confirmed that the speed limit there was 100km.

"He suggested I speak to the public prosecutor, who cancelled the ticket."

Frank said he was concerned that thousands of other motorists using the busy highway would have been caught and would simply pay up, not realising the mistake.

Following the call, The Star journalist Anna Cox checked a fine she had received - only to find that she too had been fined R100 for travelling more than 80km/h on the same stretch of road.

"Had Frank not called to alert us, I would simply have paid the fine. People should check their fines carefully before paying up," she said.

"If this is happening on the M1, it could be happening on all the highways and everywhere that cameras are used."

Minnaar denied that the camera had been incorrectly set and claimed both cases were administrative mistakes.

"We issue 100 000 fines a month, and 98,9 percent are correct. If this happens, motorists are entitled to ask for the fine to be cancelled," he said.