Million drivers facing fines
2003-02-28 12:36
Johannesburg - Queues for the new card licences are winding around the block at testing stations around South Africa as the clock ticks towards the final countdown at midnight on Friday.
Tens of thousands of motorists will then find themselves in jeopardy as metro police mount roadblocks around the country.
Mel Vosloo of Tshwane metro police said officers were preparing to issue fines to those without the new licences.
"The amount of the fines may well vary from place to place.
"It is fixed by the chief magistrate of the province and it may be R300, R500 or even R1 000.
"However, we have no plans to arrest anyone yet."
Asked what would happen if a driver alone in a car had no valid licence and would, therefore, not be allowed to drive, but had to abandon the vehicle, Vosloo said: "We will have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
Free State MEC for public transport Sekhopi Malebo said: "Licensing centres in the province will close at 8pm on Friday and not at midnight as in other provinces.
"However, those motorists who are inside Free State centres at 8pm on Friday will still be helped."
Preacher calls on crowd to repent
A crowd of about 800 people gathered at the licence office in Randburg, Johannesburg, by dawn on Friday and many came equipped with umbrellas and chairs prepared for a long wait.
An itinerant preacher was calling on people to repent and cooldrinks were readily available for those who hadn't brought a book to read.
The Randburg office closed at 09:00 on Thursday leaving 300 people noisily demanding to be allocated numbers and given preference to apply for their licences when the office reopened at 07:30am on Friday.
Allegations were made that certain applicants were allowed in after hours to apply for licences, but metro police monitoring the proceedings said they were unaware of any such incident.
Business is also brisk for newspaper vendors and telephone services as people call their work to explain they may have to stay in line for the rest of Friday.
The mood in most of the kilometre-long queues is upbeat.
Informal traders are using the queues to turn a profit and enterprising traders are braaing wors for sale and hawking hotdogs to hungry licence seekers.
So far, two people have been arrested in Pretoria queues - one for possessing drugs and the other for being drunk and disorderly.
Car stolen while driver queued
News24's Mahap Msiza reports from Cape Town that some Cape Town motorists are driving to 'dorpies' in the Boland, to escape long queues in city centres.
Reports show police have been deployed to various traffic centres in the Peninsula to help deal with ever-increasing latecomers.
There were reports of clashes in Parow and Goodwood, but nothing serious has been reported.
However, a News24 reader said on Thursday her husband had stood in a queue for hours. After his licence was processed, he went out to find his car had been stolen.
The government repeated it's stance on Friday morning, that it would not back down on it's midnight deadline.
An e-Media 24 employee drove from Cape Town to Ceres to beat the rush.
With an estimated 80 people in the queue, Mariette van Wyk told News24 on Friday morning that she expected to be a "legal" driver within two hours.
Western Cape MEC for community safety Leonard Ramatlakane, vowed this week that authorities would hit unlicensed motorists where it hurt most - in the pocket.
A traffic official at the Cape Town's Green Point traffic centre said that while the queue was long, officials were in control of the situation.
The Democratic Party and the New National Party have separately written letters to authorities asking for the Friday midnight deadline to be extended.
Using all available staff
It is reported from Durban that all provincial licensing centres in KwaZulu-Natal will be open until midnight, says the KwaZulu-Natal road traffic inspectorate.
Rajen Chinavoo confirmed that centres in Durban, Pinetown, Pietermaritzburg, Empangeni and Newcastle would be open until midnight.
He said the inspectorate was making every effort to accommodate people, including taking traffic officers off the streets and placing them in centres to help with administrative functions and crowd control.
Chinavoo, who was stationed at the Nkongeni testing centre in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, estimated about 2 000 people were in the queues, which he described as "chock-a-bloc", but "moving slowly".
"We've made available every bit of manpower we can use, even the clerks from the offices, we've got them to help us. We've even employed temporary staff, we are doing everything we can," he said.
Chinavoo said special offices had also been set up at the centres to accommodate the elderly and those who were sickly or disabled.
He said there was a police presence at all centres to control the crowds.
AA claims all old licences are legal
Meanwhile at Rossburgh centre in Durban, a man was arrested earlier for assaulting an official. Chinavoo said the man had now missed his chance for getting a new licence before the deadline.
The government has declared that from Saturday, all old ID-book licences will be invalid. Those who do not apply in time will be forced to retake their learners' and drivers' tests.
The Automobile Association is contesting this, saying that all driving licences in South Africa are legal, no matter what their issue date, and has threatened legal action if the government proceeds with its intentions.
Logan Maistry of the KZN transport department said the AA could go to court if it wanted to and that, pending a court decision, things could change.
However, legislation still stood until such a time.
He said drivers had been given five years to convert their licences.
- SAPA