Motorists want to open cases of theft after Madibeng traffic officials illegally confiscated driving licences in Hartbeespoort on Monday.

The roadblock on Monday.

During an early morning roadblock, a number of licences were confiscated, with officers citing alleged outstanding fees as a reason. According to Burgerd Botha, one of his employees was stopped and his licence disc scanned. “Traffic officers informed him that he had outstanding licence fees on the disc. It is impossible to get a new licence disc without fines being paid,” he said.
The employee was told that unless he paid at the roadblock, either his driving licence or car had to be confiscated. “They took his driving licence. He had to drive to work without a licence and related the incident to us. I accompanied him back to the roadblock and told the traffic officers that it was illegal to confiscate his driving licence. I was told that if he wanted his licence, he had to bring his car to be confiscated. The situation got heated and at one stage I was told by an officer, ‘We will moer you’. A senior female officer pulled us to the side to diffuse the situation, but still refused to return his licence.”
Upon advice from crash investigation specialist Stan Bezuidenhout, Botha accompanied his employee to open a theft case with the Hartbeespoort police. “While we were there, another motorist also opened a case after his licence was confiscated.
Nothing in the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996, the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, or the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995 authorises any traffic officer to demand, receive, or enforce payment of traffic fines at a roadblock.
According to the Road Traffic Act, law enforcement officials may not force you to pay traffic fines at the roadside, even if a facility is there for you to do so, withhold the prompt return of your driving licence to coerce you into paying outstanding traffic fines where no warrant of arrest exists or your driving licence card is not fraudulent, or impound your vehicle without reasonable grounds.
Motorists may demand to see a traffic official’s certificate of appointment, or a card authorising them to act as a peace officer.
Bezuidenhout said that outstanding fines are administrative or judicial matters to be processed via summons, written notice, or the AARTO system. “The officers in this case did not confiscate the license because it was expired, suspended, or defective. They took it and refused to return it purely as leverage to compel payment. This constitutes unlawful deprivation of property, contrary to Section 25 of the Constitution. It may amount to theft under Section 1 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, since the intention was to permanently deprive the holder of use and enjoyment of the property unless payment was made. It also meets the definitional elements of extortion under common law: “the intentional and unlawful acquisition of a benefit by subjecting another to pressure or threats.”
By the time of publication, the confiscated licence had not been returned to the employee.
Madibeng Municipality spokesperson Tumelo Tshabalala said that the matter had been brought to the attention of municipal management and that it would be investigated.