Speed (or velocity) is one of the greatest factors in determining the seriousness of the consequences of a road crash. Yet despite this being an unarguable fact, a large proportion of motorists in South Africa still think it is cool to speed and if one gets a fine for speeding, it is because the traffic cops were acting illegally, not because one was actually disregarding the speed limit. Others, who don't think it is cool to speed, but are in a hurry from time to time, think that the fact that they are running late for a meeting or the like, accept camera fines as a fact of life. Traffic authorities have added fuel to this fire by almost entirely abandoning physical speed enforcement exercises in favour of enriching themselves and their service providers (or more accurately, business partners) by making use of cameras to photograph alleged infringers and outright offenders so as to generate billions of Rands in revenue. So serious is this situation that one traffic authority alone, the JMPD issues no less than 430,000 camera speeding fines per month, totaling well over R1.5 billion in fines each month which in turn enrich their stake-holders (another word for commercial shareholders) and do nothing to curb speeding.
The money that they derive from this perverted practice is equivalent to nothing more than blood money whilst so many South Africans lose their lives and suffer serious injuries so that municipalities and big business behind all this can grow very, very rich indeed!
No-one is suggesting that speed enforcement is not a very necessary component in law enforcement, but the wanton money-making racketeering that is being practiced in South Africa is grossly negligent and tantamount to murder on the part of the authorities and should be treated with the utter contempt that it deserves.
To make sure that they get their blood money, traffic authorities order their staff to hide away from motorists and capture as many infringements as possible and never to intervene in traffic offences or public safety issues. And if they don't do what they are told, they are simply fired and replaced with staff that will do as they are told.
Above are just a few examples of how the JMPD's "electronic enforcement division" hides away in order to trap and photograph speed offenders, instead of stopping them there and then and prosecuting them.
In the words of Director Gerrie Gerneke, head of this division and many others in the JMPD "If we don't hide we won't get cases and then we will have wasted our time". Gerneke has turned his operation into such a fine art-form that not only does the JMPD issue nearly a half a million camera fines a month but it follows this up with at least five roving fine-collection roadblocks a day, none of which comply with the SA Police Services Act and all of which cause gridlock traffic jams and further cause people to speed to make up for lost time spent in these exercises.
Extortion and abuse is the order of the day in these hyena-like roadblocks where people are coerced into paying fines - legal or not - under threat of arrest, which is not permissible under law. The sheer terror that some people face when confronted with aggressive and abusive officers who have been instructed to intimidate them is little short of horrific.
This has given rise to a fast-growing culture that calls those who operate these machines "pigs, chops, bacon", etc. and who can blame them for doing so? When @PigSpotter first emerged on the Twitter scene, JPSA was also offended by the use of these insulting words and the sentiment behind reporting roadblocks, but as time has progressed and we have come to work with him and his following, it has become quite apparent that most people are sick and tired of being victims of entrapment and extortion.
Don't fool yourself - Speed Matters and Impact Kills! But this nonsensical excuse for speed enforcement using cameras to generate obscene amounts of money has got to be curtailed and there are only two, inextricably linked ways to make sure it does.
One of these is for every motorist to come to realise that exceeding the speed limit, or indeed, driving too fast for the prevailing conditions is downright stupid, inconsiderate and negligent and the other is to challenge the use of this perverted form of law enforcement in court and bring it to an end - once and for all.
Neither of these two components are easy to achieve, but that does not mean that they should not be made our goals now does it? After all, if goals were easy to achieve, what would be the point of having them to attain in the first place?
JPSA is ready and willing to take this matter to court and demolish any justification that could be presented by traffic authorities and big business who are involved in electronic law enforcement but there is one big problem. When litigating, he who has the most money wins, not he who has the best argument and most just cause.
The financial might of just one of the JMPD's one (of three) service providers - TMT Services (Pty) Ltd is so extreme that it even includes the financial resources of a multi-billion Dollar Austrian operation. Add to this that TCS, another service provider is backed by the mighty Mvelaphanda Investments and you can easily see that money is no object to the people and companies that want to defend their continued right to make huge profits from lawlessness and the deaths of South African road users.
But the matter is not hopeless if South African motorists were to simply band together and support JPSA in its efforts to bring about compliance with the law and fair and equitable law enforcement.
There are approximately 8.5 million licensed drivers in South Africa and if just 10% of them were to join JPSA, we would have more than sufficient financial muscle to out-pace and out-litigate all of the predators involved in this bizarre and immoral way of making money. We would then be able to concentrate on all of our other initiatives and bring even more into play, thus making South Africa's roads a far safer place for all of us.
Watch some of the speed videos in our videos section and you will see why you should watch your speed more closely and make a conscious decision to stop speeding. If for no other reason, stop speeding so that you stop contributing to the coffers that make camera enforcement such an attractive option to those who supply and operate them.
If just half the outcry that resulted from the announcement of the tolls on Gauteng's roads were to be focused on bringing an end to camera trapping, change would come very quickly. You have our unmitigated assurance that if you join JPSA and take its pledges, we will represent your interests to then ends of the earth for you and camera trapping will become a thing of the past.
This page was last updated on Saturday 30 July, 2011