Service provider to pay for traffic fine mess-up

NADINE Pretorius may have been slapped with 570 traffic fines, but the company who issued the stack of duplicated speeding tickets will have to pay the cost.

The City of uMhlathuze has confirmed that Traffic Management Technologies (TMT) – the company hired by the municipality as the sole service provider in traffic speed management – will have to foot the printing and postage bill for the fine blunder.

This after the 35-year-old received two fines that were duplicated 285 times totalling a staggering R72 500.

Upon closer inspection, Pretorius also discovered that the hundreds of speeding tickets delivered to her stoep last week had in fact been posted to the wrong address in Birdswood, Richards Bay under her husband’s name.

Taking in the stack of fines to the City’s traffic department in Empangeni on Wednesday, Nadine confirmed that she had only been billed for two speeding tickets.

The local motorist had been caught by speeding cameras twice on the same day for doing 74km/h in a 60km/h zone on the Empangeni main road in July. The fine was R125 each and was due on 12 October, but the pile was only delivered on 15 October.

Municipal spokesperson Vukile Mathabela said the printing and posting was done by a centralised system and an error occurred with the printing of a specific ticket.

‘The error has been addressed by the central print bureau and this mistake will not be repeated,’ said Mathabela.

‘The recipient was not fined multiple times, but received copies of the same fine. The infringement process is very strict and rigorously followed to ensure that the correct infringements are printed and posted to the correct motorist and address.

‘The printing batch process has also been assessed and a quality control procedure updated to ensure this does not occur again. We apologise for any inconvenience and anxiety caused to the motorist and public in general,’ added Mathabela.

Pretorius told the Zululand Observer she was relieved that the ‘not so fine’ mess had finally been sorted out.

‘I just hope my husband does not get pulled over now by traffic officers for hundreds of fines under his name,’ she chuckled.

 

 

22 OCTOBER

Not so fine!

A FELIXTON motorist, who was slapped with 570 speeding fines last week, says she is not prepared to pay for the two fines that were each duplicated 285 times.

This after Nadine Pretorius (35) discovered that the hundreds of speeding tickets delivered to her stoep last week had in fact been posted to the wrong address in Birdswood, Richards Bay under her husband’s name.

A gobsmacked Nadine came home last Tuesday to find 570 posted fines piled up on her front porch totalling a staggering R72 500.

But after weighing through the mountain of paper work and overcoming a near heart attack, Nadine realised she had only received two fines.

‘Why should this be my problem?’ questioned Nadine.

‘I will be going to the traffic department this week but I won’t be paying this fine as it has the incorrect address on the fine,’ added Nadine.

The local motorist had been caught by speeding cameras twice on the same day for reportedly doing 74km/h in a 60km/h zone on the Empangeni main road in July. The fine was R125 each and was due on 12 October but the pile was only delivered on 15 October.

Zululand motorists have since questioned whether the City of uMhlathuze would foot the hefty printing and stationery bill as a result of the startling error.

‘A whopping 570 envelopes wasted. What about the printing, paper, labour, etc? There goes my rates money. I have to pay for this,’ said Rina Smuts on the Zululand Observer facebook page.

‘I got the same fine twice, at the same time. I also thought it was two different ones, and nearly paid both. But I had a closer look and saw they were exactly the same. They were posted on the same day. This is a real waste of money. Colour prints are expensive, and someone had to spend a whole day’ packing those envelopes,’ another facebook user, Rialine Steyn said.

The City of uMhlathuze was unable to verify on Monday whether the municipality or Traffic Management Technologies (TMT) would be held responsible for the fine mess.

TMT is appointed by the City as the sole service provider in traffic speed management.

‘As soon as the respective motorist comes forward with the fines that are alleged to have been duplicated, then we can investigate the matter further,’ added municipal spokesperson Vukile Mathabela.

 

21 OCTOBER

You’ve got mail

CITY traffic offenders beware – the law is employing new strong-arm tactics to ensure motorists receive and pay their fines.

Nothing is left to chance.

That at least is the impression after Felixton motorist Nadine Pretorius became the first recipient of what must surely be called ‘bulk drop’ notification.

Thirty-five-year-old Pretorius arrived home last Tuesday to be met by a tsunami of traffic fines literally flooding her stoep.

No fewer than 570 speeding fines were piled up at her door totalling a staggering R72 500.

This effectively means the local motorist would have been snapped by traffic cameras every single day for the past one-and-a-half year. After overcoming a near heart attack and realising it was no practical joke, Pretorius started sifting through the intimidating mountain of documentation, eventually breathing a sigh of relief discovering she had been slapped with only two fines that had been duplicated 285 times.

‘It took me over two hours to open all the envelopes. But I soon realised that I had only been fined twice for doing 74km/h in a 60km/h zone on the Empangeni main road on 8 July. The fine R125 each and was due to be paid on 12 October, but the pile was only delivered to me on Tuesday. The fines obviously could not fit in my post box, so it was left on my stoep,’ explained Pretorius.

The uMhlathuze Municipality will no doubt face a hefty printing and stationery bill.

Still in disbelief over the hundreds of colour-printed fines piled on her desk, Nadine told the Zululand Observer on Friday that she had not confronted the City’s traffic department yet over the startling error.

‘I don’t know what to do. It’s crazy. Somebody has to pay for the printing and postage of these fines. Now this makes one wonder where our tax money is going and I’m sure this could be a new world record for the most fines ever received by a motorist on a single day.’

Upon notifying the City’s traffic department, municipal spokesperson Vukile Mathabela said, ‘It was unlikely there could be duplication of fines as their processes were legislated’.

‘The City would like to encourage the motorist to come forward with all the fines that are alleged to have been duplicated as it will assist us in investigating this matter,’ said Mathabela. Traffic Management Technologies (TMT) is appointed by the City as the sole service provider in traffic speed management. However, the City could not confirm who would pay the bill for this not so fine blunder.

 

18 OCTOBER

Fined 570 times

IMAGINE coming home to a pile of 570 traffic fines lying on your front porch?

Well, this was no practical joke for Felixton motorist, Nadine Pretorius, who was slapped with speeding fines totalling R72 500 by the City of uMhlathuze this week.

This effectively means Nadine would have been snapped by traffic cameras every single day for the past one and a half years.
But upon closer inspection, she discovered that she had only received two fines that had been duplicated about 285 times.

‘I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the fines and it took me over two hours to open the stack of envelopes. But I soon realised that I had only been fined twice for doing 74km/h in a 60km/h zone on the Empangeni main road on 8 July. The fine was R125 each and was due on 12 October but the pile was only delivered to me on 15 October. The fines obviously could not fit in my post box so it was left on my stoep,’ explained Nadine.

Still in disbelief over the hundreds of colour-printed fines piled on her desk, Nadine told the Zululand Observer today (Friday) that she had not confronted the City’s traffic department yet over the startling error.
‘Now this makes you wonder where our tax money is going and I’m sure this should be a new world record for the most fines ever received by a motorist on a single day.’

Make sure you get a copy of the Zululand Observer Monday Edition for the full story of Nadine’s hellish and crazy run with local traffic authorities.