A spate of spam emails that purport to inform the public about what to do if they are arrested for outstanding fines has the Automobile Association (AA) up in arms.
The information is apparently incorrect and isleading and could cause some friction. Gary Ronald, head of public affairs at the AA, has set out to correct some misperceptions.
“Before an arrest, motorists have the right to demand to see a copy of the warrant for their arrest, but the officer is not required to produce the original warrant of arrest,” says Ronald, pointing out that emails have suggested only an original warrant is valid.
There is no requirement from an officer of the law to supply the person being arrested with a summons, or proof that the person received the summons.
“A summons is a document issued by the court specifying a date and time for an accused person to attend court. If the accused does not attend the court session, a warrant of arrest is then issued,” said Ronald.
Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Act also clearly states that should it not be possible to serve a summons on the accused, it can be served on the accused’s residence or employment to a person over the age of 16.
The law does not provide for service of summons by post, and it must be served by a person empowered to serve such summons in criminal proceedings.
If you are accused and an officer of the law threatens to make an arrest, you are within your rights to demand to see a copy of the warrant for your arrest. An arrest without a warrant is unlawful and a person has a civil right to claim compensation for such an act.
You cannot, however, “press charges” in this instance as this terminology refers to a criminal process and your civil right to claim compensation is your recourse in such an instance.
“As a civilian, in order to ensure the law works for you, you need to ensure that you know your rights and the recourse you have to unlawful acts that you would potentially be unaware of,” Ronald says.
Paying traffic fines online:
PayFine.co.za is a service provider for traffic departments in South Africa. When you register and provide your ID number, you can view your traffic fines (with camera pictures) and pay online. (For residents of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Swellendam and Mossel Bay only.) When you make the payment, you pay a R5 surcharge per fine — essentially, you’re paying for the convenience of using the site.
POCiT (pronounced “pocket”) is a mobile payment solution that acts like a bridge between your bank account or credit card and your bills. Download the application on to your cellphone — www.pocit.mobi.
Pocit has partnered with Arrive Alive and PayFine to make the payment of fines easier for motorists. POCiT is inexpensive, fast and secure.
There are two initial cost involved when using POCiT. Data charges from your service provider of less than R1 for a first-time download or an upgrade of the application. You also need to validate your cellphone number by sending a SMS back to POCIT, standard SMS rates apply for doing this depending on your service provider.
There is a R5 cost for paying your fine using POCiT. On POCiT you can also buy airtime, make person-to-person payments and pay retail bills.
Read more news, blogs, tips and Q&As in our href=”http://www.mg.co.za/section/smart-money” rel=”external”>Smart Money section. Post questions on the site for independent and researched information