It is in front of the Roodepoort Licensing Department where JMPD are regularly caught parking in bays reserved for disabled persons.
Superintendent and spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said officers are exempt, but the public, the law and the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) disagree. In multiple comments on social media pages in the past week, Roodepoorters have made their sentiments clear. In an update on the story of a metro cop who was caught occupying a parking bay destined for disabled persons, the Record reported JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar’s official comment that JMPD officers are exempt from traffic infringements while they are on duty.
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Resident Charmaine de Wet was first to comment on facebook, “Nowhere in any traffic law does it state that metro police may park in disabled parking when on duty.”
Wayne Lucas was next in line on facebook to say, “Maybe they should enforce the law they are exempt from and not just sit behind a camera all day.”
Linda Botes wanted to know whether other violations for normal motorists, like speaking on a cell phone while driving and exceeding the speed limit, are also infringements JMPD is exempt from.
In the National Road Traffic Act of 1996, Section 58 subsection 3 dictates;
“A traffic officer who drives a vehicle in the carrying out of his or her duties or any person driving a vehicle while engaged in civil protection… may disregard the directions of a road traffic sign… provided that… [3(b)] such a vehicle shall be fitted with a device capable of emitting a prescribed sound and with an identification lamp… and such device shall be so sounded and such lamp shall be in operation while the vehicle is driven in disregard of the road traffic sign.”
Or, in layman’s terms, JMPD officers may only disregard disabled parking spaces, and other road signs, if they are engaged in civil protection with sirens sounding and lights flashing. In neither of the previous incidents the Record reported on was this evident. However, according to Minnaar officers are exempt from obeying any road laws while on duty.
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Who should residents believe?
“Minnaar is unfortunate in his lack of ability to interpret the National Road Traffic Act,” a disgusted Howard Dembovsky, who chairs JPSA, said in hearing of his comment.
“By no means are the JMPD exempt from following the laws like they would expect the rest of Johannesburg to; they’re excused from acts like this in special circumstances where they were enforcing the law, engaging in civil protection and had no other option but to disobey a traffic sign.
“There is ample parking space at the Roodepoort Licensing Department.
“I concur that this is a regular occurrence in the area and it’s unfortunate to say that there’s very the public can do about it.”
Dembovsky strongly advises residents to clearly express their disgust and take relevant information of all such incidents directly to their ward councillors or else lodge a formal complaint with the JMPD.
