It is a disputed fact that Edmund Burke said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (and women) do nothing", but whether he said it exactly like that or not; the fact is that there is a significant truth in this saying and that is why it is the motto of JPSA...
It is also quoted that Martin Luther King said "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" and nowhere has this been made more apparent than in South Africa.
South Africa has a rich history of the abuse of human rights - from the gross injustices of the apartheid era, right through to the continued abuses of human rights that have become apparent in modern-day South Africa where examples of police brutality are numerous and not at all difficult to find.
Since the demise of the evil of apartheid, a new evil has taken firm root - that of corruption and power abuse and wherever there is a quick buck to be made from the suffering of other people, a corrupt official is ready and willing to take advantage of the situation.
During the relitively short time that JPSA has been around, it has become one of the most outspoken and highly respected civil organisations in both, motorists' rights and road safety initiatives in South Africa.
In 2008 JPSA was formed to fight these evils utilising a head-on and no-holds-barred approach which has earned us more than our fair share of enemies. We have endured many hardships and many truly challenging situations, including enduring accusations by some upstarts stating "those people are not normal" through to accusations of "mischief" by others.
Yet, despite the numerous and concerted attempts to silence and discredit us, all that has happened is that JPSA has become an even more loud and credible voice for the motoring public.
No other organisation has taken on the battles that JPSA has and few even have the guts to tread where we have already gone and continue to go. Our successes speak for themselves and here are just a few examples:
- Engagements with the Director of Public Prosecutions during 2009, whilst outwardly appearing to achieve nothing brought a halt to fraudulent camera speed prosecution on the N1 North and South, resulting in the withdrawal of approval for the JMPD to trap at several sites.
- Our engagements with the JMPD brought about a complete turn-around under "Operation Nomakanjani", from charging motorists with the criminal offence of reckless or negligent driving to charging them with "inconsiderate driving" instead of criminalising them for major infringements.
- Exposure of the JMPD's reckless and lawless misapplication of section 30(1) of the AARTO Amendment Act which states that "Any document required to be served on an infringer in terms of this Act, must be served on the infringer personally or sent by registered mail to his or her last known address." where the JMPD has, since 1 June 2010 been sending (not serving) AARTO 03 infringement notices via standard permit mail. This has led to our lodging a formal complaint with the Public Protector on 17 June 2011.
- Establishment of the AARTO facts website in July 2010, after we registered aarto.co.za and aartofacts.co.za in July 2009.
- A 50-page comments submission to the National Department of Transport with respect to the 2011 draft AARTO regulations.
- Successful engagements with the Western Cape Department of Community Safety.
- Engagements with the Ekhuruleni Metropolitan Police (EMPD)
- Recognition of our national chairman, Howard Dembovsky on www.arrivealive.co.za as an expert in traffic law enforcement and AARTO. Additionally, his articles and inputs have been featured on numerous other websites, in print publications, newspapers, on national radio and television.
- The establishment of the JPSA eyewitness programme which presents an alternative way to dealing with driver delinquency and teaches them why they should obey traffic laws.
- JPSA has been granted the official permission of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) Victoria, Australia to share its graphic and poignant video advertising whilst we muster support to film our own for South Africa. We extend our deep appreciation to the TAC and our videos page includes some of their videos.
Without the leadership of JPSA's dedicated directors, and the support of our members, none of this would have been possible. To learn more about the JPSA board of directors, click here.
Throughout our existence, JPSA has always strived to form strong bonds and alliances with like-minded organisations and companies that can contribute to safer roads and justice for all who use them.
If this is what has been achieved in just three years, you can imagine what we have planned and will achieve over the years to come.
See also: Our Leadership | Alliances | About JPSA
This page was last updated on Friday 29 July, 2011