What do I do if I receive traffic fines and believe my number plate was cloned?

Question:

My friend received 3 fines from the Gauteng province traffic department. Her car was never at that province the dates the fines were issued. I suspect the number plates are cloned. Who do we report this violation to? What steps do she need to take to prevent this happening again. These are not her fines and what is the procedure to be followed? Please help!

Answer:

The answer to your question is not as simple as it may appear to be. Firstly, to my knowledge, the Gauteng Provincial Traffic Police always stop offenders who they catch speeding – they do not make use of camera trapping. Therefore, if you are receiving fines from them, then there may be someone who is fraudulently using your identity document.

If however the fines you are referring to originate from other traffic departments, of which there are several in the Gauteng Province, with respect to camera speeding offences, then there is the possibility that a false number plate is being used by someone.

Under AARTO, the only way to deal with this is to complete an AARTO 08 representation form if the infringement notice is an AARTO 03 infringement notice. This form must be completed and submitted for each and every infringement notice you receive.

If the notices you are receiving are issued under section 341 of the Criminal Procedure Act, then you may write to the Chief Traffic Officer of the authority stated on the notice, pointing out what you have stated in this email.

There are NO STEPS that you can take to prevent this happening to you since our licensing system does not cater for the deletion of a licence number (number plate) and replacement thereof. This is a huge problem with the eNaTIS system and you are far from the only person that is affected. Unfortunately, the only way that these fines will stop coming to you would be if you sold or scrapped that vehicle. However, if the fines you are receiving are originating from the JMPD, then I can assist you with a referral to the JMPD false number plate unit, which is to my knowledge, the only Metro Police Department or Traffic Department in the country that has such a unit.

In order to refer you however, I would need to know whether the fines are from the JMPD and then I would need to know what your number plate number is.

Best Regards,

Howard Dembovsky
National Chairman – Justice Project South Africa (NPC)