Bill to decriminalise overloading offences in parliament

The government wants to decriminalise overloading transgressions, with the vehicle mass bill tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Motivating the bill, transport minister John Mutorwa said the process in its current form renders less effective accountability.

“The success rate of the prosecution of road traffic offences, including the overload offences, in the country’s courts, is very low.

“The expectation is if the process could be removed from the court system and dealt with administratively, then the success rate would be increased dramatically.

Currently, if a truck is overloaded by more than two tonnes, it is considered a criminal offence punishable by law.

Mutorwa said the criminalisation of the overload offences adds to the overstretched and overstrained courts.

“But the overload offences do not carry the same blame worthiness and element of ‘moral indignation’ like the criminal offences, for example: theft, rape, murder, etc,” he reasoned.

Mutorwa said the offence should not hold the driver alone accountable, as mostly they are not the ones who have control of the weight of the vehicles.

He said the logistics chain in the overloading of a motor vehicle includes the person who provides the goods, the operator, the driver and the person who receives the goods.

“Currently, of these role players, only the driver is marked as the ‘doer’, accused of criminal action, while in fact the other role players, in the real sense, carry more guilt in respect of overloading.”

Mutorwa said this approach has proven that the legislative regulatory framework and system is practically ineffective.

He further said the calculation of overload fees and penalties should be based on the overloaded weight and the distance travelled with the overload weight.

“Fees and penalties should compensate for damages caused to the road, as a result of overloading.”

Opposition lawmaker Josef Kauandenge expressed concern that it took Mutorwa’s ministry 10 years to implement a Cabinet decision.

“Our systems that we have in place are making it difficult to address the issues hands-on. Look, for 10 years. Through that system, how many people have suffered?”

Kauandenge argued that there is a need to revise the systems that delay relief for Namibians.

Last year during a consultation meeting, Roads Authority manager of its transport inspectorate Richard Milinga said overloading can result in the reduction of a road’s lifespan from between five to 20 years.

Namibia has spent billions on investing in its road infrastructure, and is the preferred cross-border route of transporters.

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