Admission of Guilt
Justice Project South Africa warns and advises you not to fall for the trickery of what seems like an easy way out of cells. If you are arrested, and your fingerprints are taken, DO NOT pay an Admission of Guilt "fine" and insist on speaking to an Attorney as is your right under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
Since implementing the greedfines website and bringing criminal charges of fraud against the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department for the issue of tens of thousands of fraudulent camera-based speeding fines, the JMPD has upped its game by detaining motorists for a number of traffic offenses, charging them for "Reckless or Negligent Driving" under the National Road Traffic Act in conjunction with the Criminal Procedure Act.
When being detained, the arrested person will be furnished with a document that looks like this:
The document states all of your rights as a detainee, but the problem with this is that most people detained do not read its contents and therefore fall vitim to the tactic of extended detention and end up paying an Admission of Guilt "fine" just to get out of cells!
We can only estimate that hundreds of Johannesburg motorists have paid Admission of Guilt fines for this very serious criminal offense in one week alone, not realising the consequences of their actions. The J70 Admission of Guilt receipt issued at Police Stations look like this:
The receipt issued at the courts looks different but carries the same consequences! The fine amounts vary, but the charge remains the same - Reckless or Negligent Driving.
The problem with payment of this "fine" is that the accused admits guilt to the crime and since their fingerprints were taken and the charge was indeed Reckless or Negligent Driving (often called Reckless and Negligent Driving by the officials), the result is that they have pleaded guilty to a criminal offense and this will result in a permanent criminal record against their name.
This is what the National Road Traffic Act says applies to the charge of Reckless or Negligent Driving:
- No person shall drive a vehicle on a public road recklessly or negligently.
- Without restricting the ordinary meaning of the word "recklessly" any
person who drives a vehicle in wilful or wanton disregard for the safety
of persons or property shall be deemed to drive that vehicle recklessly.
- In considering whether subsection (1) has been contravened, the court shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case, including, but without derogating from the generality of subsection (1) or (2), the nature, condition and use of the public road upon which the contravention is alleged to have been committed, the amount of traffic which at the relevant time was or which could reasonably have been expected to be upon that road, and the speed at and manner in which the vehicle was driven.
Proving the offense in a Court of Law is a lot more complicated than someone simply saying that they think you were driving recklessly or negligently, so getting you to admit guilt is a far more attractive option since it doesn't take much work. A bit of intimidation, restrict your movements, make you feel like a criminal and hey presto! You pay an Admission of Guilt "fine", thereby pleading guilty - without the unnecessary nuisance and inconvenience of a trial. This was put as "In order to Alleviate workload..." in a recent letter issued by a Senior Public Prosecutor at the offices of the Chief Prosecutor, Johannesburg. Ironically, their letterhead proudly bears the slogan "Prosecutors do it with conviction."
Justice Project South Africa warns and advises you not to fall for the trickery of what seems like an easy way out of cells. If you are arrested, and your fingerprints are taken, DO NOT pay an Admission of Guilt "fine" and insist on speaking to an Attorney as is your right under the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
But wait! There's more.
One of the people arrested by the JMPD was a British resident, who was due to fly out on Tuesday morning and was on his way to the airport when he got arrested. He alleges that he was asked for a bribe and when he refused, he got arrested for going through a red traffic light (which he maintains he did not do).
He of course missed his flight, but worse, paid an Admission of Guilt "fine" thus gaining himself a criminal record in South Africa. He is now safely back in the UK after having to pay R4,500 in fare penalties, but faces severe consequences to his career.
We have agreed to keep his identity secret apart from being able to tell you that his first name is Anthony and he too is a black man and is of very good standing and integrity. He needs to address the matter with his employer, and has vowed to go to the British Press once he has. What excellent publicity for our country ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
We wrote to Advocate T Dicker of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Minister of Justice & Constitutional Development, Minister Radebe as well as his deputy and to President Zuma about this on 24 June 2009, but have not yet received a satisfactory response.
At least one person did not fall prey to this. Arnold Bendani's friend, Brad called JPSA and we assisted him. Read his story here.