Metro cops not gouging us enough

The Johannesburg metro police have failed to meet their revenue target for the third consecutive quarter.

And they are battling to detect fake documentation for foreign- registered vehicles.

There has been a large increase in the number of foreign-registered cars on Johannesburg's roads.

This was revealed in an oversight committee report.

Metro police department director Gerrie Gerneke said training of officers should be "sharpened up" to improve the policing of foreign vehicles.

He said: "These licences are very difficult to distinguish. We've got better at detecting fake licences from Zimbabwe but those from further north are of poor quality and it's difficult to distinguish fake documents from authentic ones."

But department spokesman Wayne Minnaar said foreigners were seldom able to elude the law.

"If a foreigner is reckless or is arrested for drunken driving, he gets charged at a police station and will be placed in a holding cell.

"That is why, in my view, officers are adequately trained to deal with foreign drivers."

Though set a revenue target of R425-million the department brought in only R301-million in the third quarter.

It blamed the shortfall on failure by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency to send to allegedly offending motorists courtesy letters and enforcement orders on fines.

The oversight committee proposed that a team be established to resolve problems in implementing the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act.