 
MEDIA STATEMENT
CRACK DOWN ON ROAD OFFENDERSAs part of a special month-end enforcement plan, traffic officers from the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) cracked down on traffic law offenders over the past weekend, arresting a number of people and issuing hefty fines. From Friday (25/06/2004) to Sunday (27/06/2004) RTI officers arrested 60 motorists for drinking and driving, 24 for speeding, charged motorists more than 3 000 various other traffic offences and removed 51 unroadworhty vehicles from the provinces’ roads. During the above operations RTI officers worked a total of 4 528 hours, patrolled 13 949 kilometres and stopped and checked 15 501 vehicles and drivers. 34 motorists appeared at the Camperdown Magistrates Court, which had been in session since Friday. A minibus taxi driver who was caught driving at 127km/h - well over the 100 km/h speed limit - was fined R4 000 Further, the specialist Public Transport Enforcement Unit (PTEU) impounded 26 minibus taxis for route permits and the drivers were arrested. Chief Executive Officer of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport Dr. Kwazi Mbanjwa said the high number of traffic offenders indicates that many motorists still display a blatant disregard for the law and do not consider the consequences of their actions or the safety of other road users. Mbanjwa commended RTI, South African Police Services (SAPS) and other role-players for their commitment and hard work during the weekend's operations. He also reminded road users that road safety was everybody's responsibility. "We are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of all road users but until every road user becomes responsible for their own actions, we can never win this battle against road carnage," Mbanjwa said.
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