The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development will respond on Tuesday to a Sunday newspaper report that claimed an administrative bungle had resulted in the arresting powers of some peace officers being wrongfully withdrawn — rendering certain of their actions illegal.
”We will issue a statement tomorrow,” departmental spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said in Pretoria on Monday.
The Tshwane Metropolitan Police, however, denied claims in the Rapport newspaper that an error had resulted in all fines issued since December 17 being invalid.
Tshwane metro police officers derive their powers from a section of the South African Police Services Act, it said in a statement — not from the Section of the Criminal Procedure Act referred to in the report.
A wrong assumption appears to have been made that metro police officers are traffic officers, the statement said.
”In the case of Tshwane, the city no longer has a traffic department. Had this been the case, the information may have been correct.”
The newspaper reported that billions of rands of damages might have to be paid to the public after the arresting powers of metro police members and customs and nature conservation officials were wrongfully withdrawn.
This means that not a single traffic fine issued since December 17 was ”worth the paper it was written on”.
The newspaper said the error arose when Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla mistakenly withdrew the officers’ rights in a Government Gazette notice actually intended to broaden the powers of Metrorail security officers. Only the powers of magistrates, judges of the peace, police members and prison warders were not affected.
Anybody arrested by any other peace officer, including a sheriff, could sue for wrongful arrest, the newspaper quoted Pretoria attorney Piet Kruyshaar as saying.
This also rendered illegal all fines issued and searches and seizures carried out by metro police members over the festive season.
Metro police spokesperson for Johannesburg and Ekhurhuleni could not be reached for comment. — Sapa