No mercy for traffic offenders

WINDHOEK City Police officers will visit workplaces from this week to round up traffic offenders with unpaid fines and outstanding arrest warrants.

The Windhoek City Police’s intensive crackdown on traffic offenders kicks into higher gear with officers set to visit at least 68 workplaces in the next two weeks in search of non-paying culprits.Last month, City Police Chief Abraham Kanime announced that 28 000 arrest warrants, dating back to 2007, were to be served on people who thought they had got away with violating traffic rules.City Police officers have been picking up offenders at roadblocks while many more have handed themselves over to the authorities since the announcement.Yesterday, Kanime said at least 1 000 warrants have been served in the past month, half of them on taxi drivers.The intensified crackdown will see officers visiting Government ministries, parastatals, banks and other institutions to corner those with outstanding arrest warrants.Just over the past weekend, 58 car accidents were recorded within the city limits, and over 6 000 contraventions were registered by just one of the City’s traffic cameras.Another 2 000 arrest warrants have been issued over the past month, Kanime said, as payment deadlines continue to be ignored.’People are quicker to pay now, but you still have those who think they can dodge. But I promise you there are only two ways to get yourself off the hook – either I get a death certificate on my desk, or Foreign Affairs confirms to us that you’re in another country,’ Kanime said.Traffic offenders will be visited at home towards the end of May. ‘We want to do this [visit companies] for the next two weeks, and after that we’ll go by street addresses,’ Kanime said. ‘The time for carrots is over. Now we have to bring in the sticks.’