Metro cops more active end of the month

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Have you noticed how many roadblocks there are towards the end of the month?

I was drving around today and it is clearly full of roadblocks all around. And its not just where I live either, people were phoning in to 702 to say the same thing. It makes you wonder whether the claims people are making are true, i.e that they are after money only. I mean where are they the rest of the month?

Come to think of it, its like a typical well oiled business, hand out tickets the whole month, then at the end of month make sure you collect!

Well, don’t be intimidated, you can only be arrested if there is a warrant for your arrest, you cant be forced to pay outstanding fines so don’t give in. If you do have a warrant then just pay it and get it over with because otherwise it will be difficult, make sure to keep notes of everything though and get your hands on that toolkit to learn how to fight back for your rights.

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Your rights at a roadblock

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

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:

  • You can ask for a copy of the warrant of arrest (this can be an electronic copy such as an sms or fax)
  • You should be fully informed of the reasons for your arrest
  • you should not be held to wait in a vehicle, but taken without delay
  • None of your constitutional rights should be taken (i.e no abuse etc)

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.

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