Strictly speaking, no municipal traffic officer even has the power to issue a speeding ticket.

The loophole in the Road Traffic and Transport Act of 1999, which came into effect on April 6 2001, will be plugged soon, with a notice to be gazetted by the end of this month.

Until the law came into effect, Ordinance 30 of 1967 was Namibia's official traffic legislation.

It stipulated that traffic officers had to be certified by the Minister of Transport and then appointed as officers of the peace by the Minister of Justice under the Criminal Procedure Act.

This appointment gave traffic officers the power to arrest people and issue summons.

When the old law was repealed in 1999, the appointment of peace officers by the Minister of Justice under the Criminal Procedure Act was not included.

Swakopmund's Traffic Chief, Fanie Kruger, confirmed this information to The Namibian.

"It is accurate, but I cannot give you more information because I don't know how far this issue has gone," he said.

According to a reliable source in Windhoek who is well acquainted with the traffic law, the matter has received high-level attention and a correction was to be gazetted last Friday, but due to administrative problems, it will only be gazetted at the end of this month.

Responding to an article on the issue that appeared in the Namib Times last week, the Municipality of Walvis Bay issued a statement saying that traffic officers would continue doing their duty as usual.

"All indications are that a notice to this effect will be announced in the Government Gazette of September 1 2008, enabling traffic officers to be fully compliant with their role as peace officers," the statement read.

"Road users and pedestrians are therefore expected to adhere to all traffic rules and regulations.

Offenders will still face the full extent of the law," it warned.

Local News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  SPYL saves struggle children from arrest
•  RDP slams Nujoma about troops to DRC
•  Cocaine-dealing suspect acquitted
•  Tired of 'empty promises'
•  Hospital plagued by power problem
•  Mix Camp Settlement gets drought aid
•  Mix Camp Settlement gets drought aid
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Quirky SMSes
•  Diamond jobs under threat
•  Fisherman jailed over Henties Bay stabbing
•  Swapo 'behind Pohamba all the way'
•  Fatal kicking case to Regional Court
•  MVA sues paralysed accident victim
•  Koevoet bases to be renovated
•  Campsites bring hope to Puros
•  'Koos Kombuis' in Walvis cell
•  Ulenga leaves Parliament to prepare CoD for elections
•  Chief /Gaseb does not acknowledge appointment by King Justus //Garoeb
•  German museum to return skulls
•  Big Brother Africa 3: E-mails - From You To Us
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Is Malawi going to clean up?
•  Court cracks down on 'struggle children'
•  Nearly a third of Namibians poor
•  Pupils suspended over porn DVD
•  NA approves US grant