Motorist owing City of Cape Town R209 000 nabbed via ANPR

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While driving in Bellville, an officer attached to the City’s Transport Enforcement Unit received an alert on the tablet in his vehicle, after the in-vehicle camera read the licence plate on a bakkie in front of him using Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.

Owed nearly R210 000

It showed that the motorist had 262 fines, 114 warrants and owed the City of Cape Town R209 200.

The 34-year-old suspect was taken into custody and appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

‘We’ve highlighted multiple arrests in recent months, where scofflaws have been tracked down, either by our specialist tracing team, or via the Automated Number Plate Recognition technology. This system is improving efficiency by allowing our officers to focus on the right vehicles, which means it is becoming increasingly more difficult to hide. I would therefore advise motorists to pay their fines timeously if they do not want to end up behind bars,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

‘As it happens, we are finalising the details of the next roadshow where motorists can settle outstanding fines and warrants in a single location. These roadshows have become increasingly popular in recent years, so do not spend all your money on black Friday, and come buy some peace of mind at our roadshow instead.’

Resolve queries

The roadshow will be held on the Concourse Level at the Civic Centre in the CBD – on weekdays only, from Monday, 2 December to Wednesday, 11 December, between 08:30 and 14:00.

Apart from traffic fines, the roadshow will also provide an opportunity for customers to resolve queries relating to their City rates/services accounts and complete applications for indigent and/or pensioner’s rebates.

Meanwhile, in other enforcement news, traffic officers arrested 42 suspects – 27 for driving under the influence, eight for reckless and negligent driving and seven for various other transgressions.

They recorded 63 620 offences, impounded 328 public transport vehicles and executed 908 warrants of arrest.

Law Enforcement officers made 248 arrests in the past week, and issued 4 400 notices for various by-law offences.

Their Metro Police counterparts made 70 arrests, and issued 3 823 traffic and by-law fines.

The Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC) recorded 1 796 incidents over a 48-hour period this past weekend, including 104 fires, 123 cases of assault, 206 noise nuisance calls, 48 domestic violence incidents, and 60 motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents.