Motorists with expired admission of guilt traffic fines can now settle their outstanding fines through electronic funds transfer (EFT).
This is part of a two month amnesty announced by the Office of the Judiciary and the police yesterday.
“Payments will be accepted from Monday to Friday during normal working hours. Alternatively, payments can be made via EFT into the designated bank account of the relevant district court and they must use the summons number as the payment reference,” says judiciary spokesperson Vikitoria Hango.
The amnesty, which runs from 3 August to 30 September, allows motorists whose payment deadlines have expired to settle outstanding admission of guilt traffic fines without having to appear in court.
Hango says the amnesty aims to help the public clear outstanding traffic matters while reducing the backlog of unresolved traffic-related cases.
However, the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (Nabta) says the government should rather consider writing off outstanding traffic fines instead of offering an amnesty.
Nabta secretary general Pendapala Nakathingo says the issue goes beyond collecting money and requires a national dialogue to understand why thousands of motorists have failed to pay their fines.
He says many motorists with outstanding fines are already facing warrants of arrest, not because they deliberately refused to pay, but because they cannot afford to.
“Amnesty for what? We have people who are now running away from the industry [and] then they become criminals because they can no longer drive their taxis and buses. They are forced to be criminals by virtue of having a warrant of arrest. They are living under stress and fear because every day, you are walking as a prisoner, but they did not steal anything,” says Nakathingo.
He says he supports efforts to provide relief to motorists but believes an amnesty alone does not address the root causes of unpaid traffic fines.
The Namibian Revolutionary Transport Union (Naretu) also says that reducing traffic fines and allowing motorists to pay them in instalments would provide greater relief than the amnesty.
Naretu commander-in-chief Petersen Kambinda says the current system does not take into account the financial difficulties many motorists face.
He says extending the payment period alone will not increase compliance if motorists continue to struggle financially.
Windhoek taxi driver Bertus Afrikaner says allowing motorists to pay outstanding admissions of guilt traffic fines through EFT makes the payment process easier.
However, he says the amnesty may not be enough for motorists with big outstanding fines.
“It depends on how many tickets you have. Some guys have fines of up to N$8 000 and you can’t just get N$8 000 like that. There are some guys who don’t even have one ticket. There are others who have four different tickets,” Afrikaner says.
