Resident cries foul over traffic fine

A WINDHOEK resident believes she was taken for ride after trying to pay a traffic fine through the post.

Martie Rohman, an employee at a local South African-owned retailer, says the public needs to know what happened to her so that they can be on their guard. In early July, Rohman’s husband was given a traffic ticket for parking their VW Beetle in a parking spot reserved for taxis.Foreseeing long queues at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Rohman says she decided to mail the N$150 cheque to them.After becoming suspicious about not receiving a receipt in the ensuing month, she says she was shocked when she received a letter informing her that payment had not been received by the due date.”At this point I just thought the cheque had got lost,” she says, and she asked First National Bank to supply her with the number and other details of the cheque she had issued to the clerk of the Magistrate’s Court.This exercise revealed that the cheque had in fact been cashed, she says, and she went back to the traffic offices to find out what had happened.”When they showed me the receipt for the (traffic) ticket that was paid for with my cheque, it wasn’t our ticket,” she laughed.Her cheque had in fact paid a fine of the same amount issued to a certain Riaan Eysele, who on August 1 was fined for doing a U-turn in a prohibited zone.”Still I didn’t suspect anything malicious.I just thought our papers got mixed up,” she says.She contacted Eysele who was as baffled as she was, since he says his fine had been paid in cash, not by cheque.”The company I work for handled that ticket immediately, and paid for it in cash,” Eysele told The Namibian.This was verified by the copy of the receipt he had been given, which had the “cash” box ticked, unlike the copy that lay at the Ministry of Justice, where the “cheque” box was ticked.”So this is when I knew something was not right,” Rohman says, adding that the traffic department promised to take the matter up with the responsible department at the court.”Its not a huge amount of money, but the fact that this type of thing is happening needs to be exposed, I think,” Rohman said.After being informed of the incident and investigating it, the Superintendent of the City of Windhoek’ Internal Relations Department, Gerry Shikesho, said his office would certainly take the matter further.The traffic ticket was issued by the Windhoek City Police, which falls under the municipality.Shikesho said the discrepancy took place at the courts, and the municipality did not handle any money.”But we are worried about this.We are not going to stop this here.We’ve had to make changes to our computer systems,” Shikesho said yesterday.Shikesho said further that any members of the public who suspected fraudulent behaviour on the part of those working with traffic tickets should report it to the complaints and discipline division of the City Police.Their contact number is (061) 290 2785.In early July, Rohman’s husband was given a traffic ticket for parking their VW Beetle in a parking spot reserved for taxis.Foreseeing long queues at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Rohman says she decided to mail the N$150 cheque to them.After becoming suspicious about not receiving a receipt in the ensuing month, she says she was shocked when she received a letter informing her that payment had not been received by the due date. “At this point I just thought the cheque had got lost,” she says, and she asked First National Bank to supply her with the number and other details of the cheque she had issued to the clerk of the Magistrate’s Court.This exercise revealed that the cheque had in fact been cashed, she says, and she went back to the traffic offices to find out what had happened.”When they showed me the receipt for the (traffic) ticket that was paid for with my cheque, it wasn’t our ticket,” she laughed.Her cheque had in fact paid a fine of the same amount issued to a certain Riaan Eysele, who on August 1 was fined for doing a U-turn in a prohibited zone.”Still I didn’t suspect anything malicious.I just thought our papers got mixed up,” she says.She contacted Eysele who was as baffled as she was, since he says his fine had been paid in cash, not by cheque.”The company I work for handled that ticket immediately, and paid for it in cash,” Eysele told The Namibian.This was verified by the copy of the receipt he had been given, which had the “cash” box ticked, unlike the copy that lay at the Ministry of Justice, where the “cheque” box was ticked.”So this is when I knew something was not right,” Rohman says, adding that the traffic department promised to take the matter up with the responsible department at the court.”Its not a huge amount of money, but the fact that this type of thing is happening needs to be exposed, I think,” Rohman said.After being informed of the incident and investigating it, the Superintendent of the City of Windhoek’ Internal Relations Department, Gerry Shikesho, said his office would certainly take the matter further.The traffic ticket was issued by the Windhoek City Police, which falls under the municipality.Shikesho said the discrepancy took place at the courts, and the municipality did not handle any money.”But we are worried about this.We are not going to stop this here.We’ve had to make changes to our computer systems,” Shikesho said yesterday.Shikesho said further that any members of the public who suspected fraudulent behaviour on the part of those working with traffic tickets should report it to the complaints and discipline division of the City Police.Their contact number is (061) 290 2785.