Robot saboteur 'deserves death'

2005-03-29 15:40

Johannesburg - The death penalty would be too mild a punishment for people who tamper with traffic lights, said the Christian Democratic Party on Tuesday.

Reacting to the arrest of a man for allegedly tampering with traffic lights at the intersection of Christiaan de Wet and Ontdekkers roads on the West Rand, Du Plooy said: "It must be the most evil crime that has ever been contemplated in Johannesburg".

He called on the arrested man to tell police who put him up to the alleged deed that could have resulted in damage to vehicles and even the death of motorists.

Du Plooy: "Those involved with this abhorrent scheme should be charged with murder and attempted murder. Their possessions should be confiscated as a matter of justice and they should be locked up for life."

'SA is traded as a commodity'

He said: "The most fitting penalty for this crime would have been a death sentence.

"I am deeply troubled that life in South Africa has become so cheap and is traded as a commodity. Even the death penalty seems to be too mild a punishment in this instance."

The DA said that if it was true that the arrested man had done so in order to get a tip off fee from tow truck drivers vying for business at accident places then tow truck owners need to suffer the same fate.

DA councillor Ann Barnes said: "Despite assurances by the tow truck industry that this is just a once off episode, how can we be sure?"

Barnes asked: "Traffic signals problems have been rife for the past six months across the city - who's to say that these problems weren't caused by these signal saboteurs?"

Malicious damage to property

Police said the 23-year-old man identified his accomplices, aged nine and 13-years, and gave information about the tow-truck companies for which he worked.

He was due to appear in Roodepoort magistrate's court on Tuesday, charged with malicious damage to property and attempted murder.

Mogale said: "When he cut off the power he might caused accidents. We don't know how long he has been doing this and how many accidents he might have caused."

Meanwhile, the SA Towing and Recovery Association had launched a probe into allegations that he was disconnecting traffic lights to drum up business for West Rand tow truck drivers.

They confirmed that he formed part of a wide "spotter" network of people paid to give tow truck drivers accident tip offs.

- SAPA