Traffic fines can now be contested online, in joburg that is. The AARTO which is the new authority for Joburg Traffic Fines has put up a system where you can make representations in respect of a fine online. All you need to do is go to the AARTO website, fill the electronic form, print and post, here is the website address: www.aarto.co.za and here is a short video showing you where you can find the form:
Joburg motorists probably live in fear of being stopped at a roadblock as you never know what to expect and the advice out there is at best a bit sketchy.
So what ARE your rights, what should you do, and more importantly what shouldn’t you do. Well first off let me say that there was a hoax email doing the rounds recently saying that you should resist arrest. The email purported to be from the law society who claim that it is not their email and that you should not resist arrest, rather pay the fine and lay a charge of wrongful arrest afterward.
Your specific rights at a roadblock are:
It is no doubt a difficult situation and often you can only bring these issues up after the fact, so we advise to not resist arrest, pay the fine, take note of all the occurences and lay a charge afterward if there is a case for wrongful arrest. Consult with a good lawyer on this as well.
This is a typical example of how the JMPD are trapping motorists illegally and is exactly what Joe Lazarus is trying to help motorists with in his Traffic Fines Toolkit If you want to know how to get these type of fines cancelled I suggest you get the Toolkit as it explains exactly why these fines are invalid and how to get them cancelled, click here to get the Toolkit: Traffic Fines Toolkit
“payfine” is searched by more than 5000 people daily in South Africa so I assume there are a lot of people, well..paying fines. If my math is correct thats probably 150 000 per month and if each fine is an average of R200 we are talking about R30 million in fines. That may seem high to you but in fact the Joburg Traffic Department already receives in excess of R100 million rand a month in traffic fine revenue as confirmed by the Carte Blanche program.
Of course the only fine you can pay online is the good old traffic fine at the site www.payfine.co.za which is probably what everybody is looking for when they search “payfine”.
But before you rush off and pay your fine why not consider if you should actually pay it in the first place. See, paying the fine is the same as admitting guilt, but who says you really are guilty? What if I told you that there is a very great chance that you aren’t guilty at all. Yes, it is your car in the picture, yes you were in that area on that day and that time, BUT, is it proven beyond any reasonable doubt that you were in fact speeding? If you want to know more about checking whether your fine is actually valid or not, check out the Traffic Fines Toolkit by clicking this link: http://www.trafficfinestoolkit.co.za
On the other hand if you just want to pay your fine and get it over with these are the websites you are looking for:
For most fines you can pay at www.payfine.co.za
For fines outside of Joburg you should go to www.viewfines.co.za
