A stack of parking bay sensors, pried off the tarmac, was discovered in a rubbish bin along Allen Street on Wednesday morning.
Traffic Management Services (TMS) uses the sensors to detect if a vehicle is parked in a metered bay and for how long. The driver is charged for parking accordingly.
“The tags that are in the bays are very important to the success of the parking marshals’ duties and without the tag, he/she cannot do their work,” stated TMS client services director, Kurt Joshua, in an email to the Newcastle Advertiser.
Newcastle’s mayor, Dr Nthuthuko Mahlaba, discovered the parking bay sensors by chance while emptying the bin during his clean-up campaign.
As Dr Mahlaba reached into the bin, a panicked parking marshal rushed towards him, plunged his arm into the bin and grabbed hold of the sensors before Dr Mahlaba could lift it out of the bin and deposit it into a black bag.
Dr Mahlaba already had the sensors in his grasp and refused to let go, demanding an explanation for what he found. A brief ‘tug-of-war’ for the sensors took place until a municipal staff member advised the agitated parking marshal that the overall clad man emptying the rubbish bin was actually the mayor.
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Hearing this, the parking marshal hesitantly let go of the sensors, and he was then escorted to the TMS offices.
“That one must be dismissed,” said Dr Mahlaba, angrily. “The sensors are being broken so that they can pocket the parking fee. They are stealing.”
The parking marshal later told TMS site manager, Jeffery Fokane, the sensors were no longer on the ground in the respective parking bays due to continuous vandalism.
Mr Joshua accused, “illegal car guards,” of vandalising parking sensors, “on a daily basis.”
“Our system indicates and alerts the head office immediately if a tag has been vandalised or removed, and we replace them daily at our own expense,” added Mr Joshua.
The Newcastle Advertiser queried whether TMS received an alert in this instance, and if its head office was aware the tags were tampered with before the mayor’s discovery in the rubbish bin? However, no response to this question was received at the time of publishing.
The parking marshal was suspended pending an investigation. “Upon completion of the investigation, appropriate action will be taken by the company as prescribed in the company’s code of conduct should there be any illegal activities found against the marshal,” explained Mr Joshua.
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Despite claims made by TMS that its parking management system, “does not allow for any form of dishonesty,” Mr Joshua stated, “when any form of dishonesty is picked up by the system or by supervisors, the marshal is dealt with through the correct HR procedures.”
Parking marshals earn a performance based income, and do not receive a basic salary. TMS believes that a commission based earning structure will deter marshals from, “cheating,” as, “it will not be in their best interest.” The more money the marshals bring in, the more they will earn. “If they are dishonest or cheat they will be dealt with accordingly. And if they do their job properly and according to the code of conduct and rules they will receive a good salary at the end of the month with bonuses,” said Mr Joshua.
The Newcastle Advertiser questioned if the absence of a basic salary may be a contributing factor to parking marshals who ‘cheat the system’, and if it could be the reason for high staff turnover described by Mr Joshua. We also asked if a down and out parking marshal earning 10 per cent commission, for example, may not be tempted to pocket R2 immediately, rather than wait to earn 20cents at the end of the month. “We have been approved by the South African Labour Department and it (the wage structure) is extremely fair and compliant in all aspects of the law,” responded Mr Joshua.
“We are living in a time where honesty is not always respected, but with our management system, we can easily detect any irregularities,” said Mr Joshua. “The company is aware of any misconduct which may be done by a marshal at any given time and appropriate actions are taken accordingly.”
Mr Joshua responded to residents’ complaints about marshals not performing their duties as prescribed (often issuing a parking ticket only after the driver has returned to the vehicle and frequently not issuing a receipt at all), advising motorists to make sure they are charged correctly and to demand a receipt for the transaction.
“We also urge motorists to provide marshal feedback so that we can address issues accordingly,” he said.
However, Mr Joshua feels motorists’ attitudes are also to blame for some of the challenges in implementing the parking management system efficiently.
“Marshals have and continue to be met with hostility, harassment and threats,” says Mr Joshua, who claims parking marshals have, “even been driven over by motorists who refuse to pay for parking.”
“It is prescribed in the municipal by-laws that motorists are liable to pay for parking in Newcastle. Non-compliance gives and will give us rise to law enforcement as envisaged in the by-laws,” he warned.
