Pretoria - Pay your traffic fines, or lose your TV set. Or your furniture, your car or even your driver's licence.
That could be the fate, countrywide, of motorists next year when the new regulations outlined in the Administration Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, are introduced by the national Department of Transport and Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).
The points system, in terms of which motorists are accorded points when they commit traffic offences, and lose the points when there have been no offences for some time, will also be implemented.
Collen Msibi, spokesperson for the Department of Transport said the regulations and the points system would be piloted in Pretoria in January next year, by the Tshwane Metro Council.
Only 20% of fines paid
"Depending on how it works there, there'll be a decision on when to go national," Msibi said.
It would be up to the metro police officials and traffic officers at local and provincial level to apply the regulations.
Thabo Tsholetsane, acting chief of the RTMC, said only about 20% of the traffic fines issued every year, were paid.
"In Pretoria alone, there's R70m in outstanding fines."
Tsholetsane said in terms of the new regulations, if motorists had not paid their fines within three months their moveable assets could be confiscated.
"A warrant for the seizure would be obtained and moveable assets to the value of the outstanding fine would be seized."
Errant motorists could also be registered at the Credit Bureau.
Motorists who paid a fine within a month of its being issued could be considered for a 50% reduction.
The points system works as follows: Every motorist begins with zero points. Depending on how serious the offence is, points are awarded.
When a motorist has not committed a traffic offence for three months, one point is deducted. When a motorist reaches 12 points, the person's driver's licence can be suspended.
The new guidelines provide for an eNaTIS database of offences, making it possible for a motorist's history of offences to be called up on the scene on a computer screen.
Tsholetsane said this was the thinking behind budgeting to provide a hand-held computer to every traffic officer in the country who had to impose these regulations.
An amount of R72m was being budgeted to train officials, to develop the system and for communication, with a maximum budget of R13 000 per hand-held computer.
Msibi said the condition of the country's roads made it necessary to impose stricter controls.
"Most accidents are the result of traffic violations, and by taking stronger steps against offenders, the country's accident toll can be considerably reduced.
"We have to be strict if we want to have safer roads. If people know their driver's licences are at stake, they'll take traffic rules more seriously," he said.
