Generally motorists are elated at the sight of a roadblock due to the fact that they’ve been an effective mechanism in keeping unlicensed drivers and unroadworthy vehicles off of our roads; but this is no longer the case in eMalahleni, where roadblocks now strike fear into the hearts of even the most conscientious of drivers.
On Tuesday, September 25, a roadblock set up in Klipfontein was the cause of many tears and much frustration.
A female motorist alleges that after being pulled over at this roadblock on her way home from work, a traffic officer allegedly informed her that she had outstanding fines to the value of R11 000. These fines were incurred through the new portable, unmanned speeding cameras in eMalahleni, however the aforementioned female motorist was allegedly completely unaware that she had incurred any fines at all.
Motorists are alleging that they were intimidated into paying large amounts of money to traffic officers at a roadblock in Klipfontein.
Allegedly the traffic officer who had pulled her over told her that she would only be allowed to leave the site of the roadblock after she had paid the outstanding R11 000, and allegedly stated that she would need to phone a friend or relative to bring her the money in cash.
Other motorists allege that their drivers’ licenses were taken from them. Allegedly the traffic officers informed them that they would only return their drivers’ licenses to them if they paid the amount owed because of outstanding speeding fines at the roadblock itself.
Motorists are urged to familiarise themselves with their rights pertaining to roadblocks.
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A traffic officer cannot legally arrest you for outstanding section 341 or section 54 fines unless a warrant for your arrest has also been issued.
You are also within your rights to check if a roadblock is “legal” by requesting to see the roadblock’s certificate of authentication which must be signed by either the National or Provincial Police Commissioner; without this certificate, the roadblock is illegitimate.
You are also allowed to request that the traffic officer who pulled you over produce his or her certificate of appointment. The Criminal Procedure Act provides that an officer who cannot or will not provide an appointment certificate at a roadblock on demand is in violation of the Act and that any actions that he or she takes will be unlawful if such a certificate is not provided.
You are also allowed to film and photograph traffic officers at a roadblock in accordance with SAPS standing order 156; traffic officers are absolutely not allowed to refuse you from doing so. This is a helpful course of action to take in gathering evidence of misconduct.
The roadblock caught hordes of motorists on their way back home from work.
It is, however, important to note that if you intentionally and unlawfully violate the dignity of an officer, you could be taken into custody. For example, any racial slurs, hate speech or actions that prevent the officer from doing their job. Hate speech, derogatory remarks and racial slurs at a roadblock may result in a case of crimen injuria being opened against you.
Emalahleni Local Municipality was approached for comment. Kingdom Mabuza, spokesperson for Emalahleni Local Municipality said,
“there was a roadblock last week but there were no arrests which were made and there were no driver’s licenses which were taken. What happened is that, when motorists were stopped traffic officers requested driver’s licenses to check whether a driver has outstanding fines and/or a warrant of arrest against his/her name. It is a standard procedure to check for those details. When that is done, no driver gets harassed or arrested for no reason.”
