JMPD says it will cancel all unlawful traffic fines issued between June 2010 and December 2012.
This comes after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that the tickets were issued in contravention of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act making them unlawful.
The act states that all traffic offenders under AARTO are issued with three infringement notices. These notices must be sent to the infringer by registered mail within 30 days (+10 days postage) from the process date.
“At the time the fines were not issued by registered mail because JMPD didn’t have enough on their budget,” according to JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar.
So far, more than nine million traffic fines have been cancelled by the JMPD following the improper mailing of infringement notices.
“This won’t affect JMPD as we do not depend on traffic fines. JMPD gets an annual budget for patrol cars, uniforms, salaries and much more from the City of Joburg.”
The fines have been cancelled to remove the administrative burden on motorists as they will no longer have to go through the cancellation process.
Motorists will no longer be stopped for these fines.