Speed cameras return to eThekwini: A step towards safer roads.
Image: David Ritchie
After years of legal wrangling, Durban roads are once again going to be policed with speed cameras, eThekwini Municipality has confirmed.
Soon speed cameras will be placed on the city's roads and will help stop lawlessness and speeding and in turn save lives while generating revenue for the municipality through speeding tickets.
"The Durban Metro Police Service is in the process of renewing its speed timing unit. The Municipality has acquired new equipment, and Metro Police officers are currently undergoing training for deployment in this unit," Gugu Sisilana, the municipality's spokesperson told IOL.
However, the municipality would not disclose how it resolved its legal issues with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The municipality and the NPA have been in a court struggle over the service provider's contract for traffic camera operations, which the NPA suspended owing to suspected irregularities.
As a result of this legal conflict, traffic cameras, including those used for speed enforcement and red-light offences, have been inoperable since July 2017, which means that drivers who speed and run red lights are not penalised.
The Municipality has reportedly wasted more than R600 million in potential revenue as a result of the inoperable cameras. Political parties have expressed worries about the lack of speed enforcement, claiming that it endangers people's lives.
ActionSA's KwaZulu-Natal branch said it has been appalled by the municipality's failure to maintain speed cameras.
"This is a reckless oversight that puts countless lives at risk. The absence of functioning speed cameras not only encourages lawlessness on the roads, but significantly undermines the efforts of the Durban Metro Police to reduce accidents, injuries and fatalities," said ActionSA's provincial spokesperson, Sanelisiwe Zuma.
Zuma added that speed cameras are a crucial tool in enforcing traffic laws, deterring reckless driving and holding drivers accountable.
"Without them, speeding motorists are free to violate speeding regulations with impunity and endangering pedestrians."
IOL