Pretoria - Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has reiterated his call for a speedy overhaul of the country's justice system to allow for traffic offences to be dealt with in separate courts.
South African courts are battling to cope due to dozens of unattended cases relating to traffic offences over the years.
Ndebele said this has further placed tremendous strain on court resources resulting in traffic offences during 2008 only being heard in October 2010 and into 2011.
He told Parliament on Tuesday that the current traffic law enforcement system is not effective and needed to be changed.
"Our courts are already overburdened with many criminal cases and traffic offences are not prioritised by the justice system," he said. This was further exacerbated by the lawlessness on the roads.
The Johannesburg Metro Police Department alone has around 201 779 traffic offences on the court roll for 2010 for offences committed during 2008. About 53 809 traffic offences could not be accommodated and have court dates pending after October 2010 and into 2011.
For the Cape Town Metro, up to 132 226 traffic cases are on the court roll up to October 2010. Ndebele noted that traffic offences during the current year will have to be heard during 2011/2012 and into 2013.
"Drivers simply ignore paying traffic fines and do not even bother to go to court because they know that nothing will happen to them, since their cases are not prioritised and, in many instances, withdrawn," he said.
He hoped the implementation the implementation of AARTO (Administrative, Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences) as of this year may help alleviate the crisis. The system will see drivers loose points for every serious road offence committed and may lead to a suspension of their license.
Ndebele said the Road Traffic Management Corporation has advertised posts for additional traffic officers.
Also, a new structure called community road safety councils will soon be introduced in every municipality in the country.
"These councils will provide the opportunity to all stakeholders to participate and allow communities to identify road safety challenges and interventions in their respective localities and to act as ambassadors for road safety".
Community members will also be able to access the benefits provided by the Road Accident Fund through these councils.
