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2011
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Stricter punishment for traffic offenders MELISSA PAPIER
A MITCHELL’S PLAIN community leader feels so strongly about the frequency of road accidents due to “a lack of visible traffic policing” in the area that he plans to lay an official complaint with the Public Protector to investigate the matter. CPF cluster chairperson Michael Jacobs has come out with all guns blazing, saying the situation is “bad and the community is suffering”. Jacobs’ outcry stems from a string of accidents in the past three weeks where innocent pedestrians were killed by negligent drivers. Last week a man was killed by a drag racer in Westridge. Before that, Securo Jephta (6) was knocked over on 20 February in Sentinel Street, Tafelsig. In a separate incident at the intersection of Spine Road and Paulsberg Street, Tafelsig on 14 February, Mickyle Goff and his uncle Naim Engelman were walking to the Town Centre when they were knocked over by a speeding car. The pair were on their way to the library to complete Mickyle’s school assignment (“Road safety call after death of boy (11)”, People’s Post 22 February). “The lack of visible traffic policing in Mitchell’s Plain has gone on for long enough. I will be laying an official complaint with the Public Protector in the week to investigate the matter,” said Jacobs. “The community is angry at the situation and people are going to take the law into their own hands.” Drag racers were blamed for the recent spate of incidents, he said. “We don’t want our communities to take the law into their own
hands; we know there is a capacity shortage and that there are not enough people, so why is the government not doing anything about it? We have thousands of unemployed people who want to earn a living – why can’t these people be trained and employed?” Jacobs said that in affluent areas, traffic policing was more visible than in the poorer communities. “Government needs to be held accountable for this problem; as negligent drivers are deliberately killing innocent people with their irresponsible behaviour.” Last week, People’s Post reported that the lack of traffic police personnel has come under fire from the community following the recent accidents in Mitchell’s Plain (“Traffic policing under the spotlight”, 8 March). Soon after the article appeared three children were knocked over in Ural Crescent, Tafelsig when the driver of a speeding car lost control of the vehicle. The children were knocked from the pavement, leaving a three-yearold boy dead and the two girls seriously injured. Lolita Carolus witnessed the accident and urged the authorities to deal severely with speeding motorists. A traumatised Carolus tells People’s Post that she was on her way home when she saw the driver walking out of a house, scolding and swearing at someone. “As he got into the car, I crossed the road to avoid him as he was very rude. In seconds, the car picked up speed and I thought to myself that he was not going to make the corner, when I heard a loud crash,” said Carolus. “At first I thought, it’s good that he went into a wall and not a person;
however when he reversed I realised that he had knocked over three children. There was blood all over and as soon as he realised what had happened, he fled the scene.” Advocate Ebrahim Arendse, a lecturer in traffic law at the Municipal Safety and Security Training Academy – who is also a traffic officer – says drag racing has increased tenfold over the past few months and agrees that the department does not have sufficient personnel to police the area on a 24-hour basis. “What irritates me as a traffic officer is that when we have a drinkand-drive road block in Mitchell’s Plain, some residents accuse us of selective enforcement, thus implying that we ignore the upmarket areas; which is untrue.” Arendse said residents also warn their family and friends about mobile speed enforcement campaigns thereby aiding and abetting unlawfulness. “It is not a secret that the locations of traffic road blocks are posted on Facebook and other forms of electronic media,” he said. He added that motorists will face the full wrath of the law from 1 April, when harsher punishments for traffic violations come into effect. “With Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, No. 46 of 1998 (AARTO) being enacted by Parliament; it will hopefully encourage motorists to take traffic offences and resulting fines more seriously. “The system also brings with it improved fine collection procedures and more penalties for not paying within the prescribed time, eventually leading to confiscation of movable property and ultimately to being declared unfit to operate a
AU NATUREL: Cape Town was one of 50 sites around the world to partic ipate in a cheeky protest against oil dependency and the car culture on Saturday March 12 by celebrating the bicycle and the power and individuality of the human body. To symbolise the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic, many cyclists were semiclad as they rode down the Fan Walk in Green Point. Photo: Nasief Manie/Foto 24 motor vehicle,” said Arendse. “The mere thought that your driving licence may be suspended or cancelled should be enough to encourage you to change your diving habits.” Spokesperson for Mitchell’s Plain Police station, Constable Jerome Voegt, says the 22-year-old suspect who knocked over the three children handed himself over to police last Wednesday. Allistar Goodwin appeared in the Mitchell’s Plain Magistrate’s Court last Thursday and Friday on charges relating to culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving. The matter was postponed and Goodwin will appear again in court tomorrow for a formal bail application. He is currently detained at Pollsmoor Prison. It is understood that Goodwin is out on bail for attempted murder and he has no driver’s licence. Voegt said that on Tuesday 8 March at 14:15 police responded to a complaint of an accident in Ural Crescent, Tafelsig. “At the scene police discovered the body of a boy who was fatally injured and two girls with serious injuries, who were taken to hospital.” Mishka King (9), a pupil from
Searidge Park Primary School, sustained injuries to her jaw and right arm. She was released from hospital the same day. Andrea Pereira (14), a pupil at Tafelsig High School, also suffered serious injuries as she was flung against the wall. She was admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital and underwent surgery the same day. Andrea is in a stable condition and is recovering in hospital. The funeral service of Ezra Fielies (3) was held on Saturday. Family, friends and neighbours gathered at the Bazaleel Assembly Church in Tafelsig to pay their respects to the little boy. He was laid to rest at the Muizenberg Cemetery. Andrea was holding Ezra when the car slammed into them sending the boy flying into the air, his body hitting the windscreen, then landing on the pavement. Ezra was described as a “loveable little boy with a big smile”. A family friend, Laura Thompson, said Ezra had a way of creeping into one’s heart and was a blessing in the lives of his parents and the community. “Everyone will miss Ezra; he was a joy to us all.”
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