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Metro police and its national counterparts
are clamping down on dangerous drivers, and are arresting motorists who break
the law.
RECKLESS and negligent drivers are being
targeted under the week-old Operation Nomakanjani, with well over a hundred
motorists arrested in the first five days.
Operation Nomakanjani, meaning "no matter
what" in English, is a fight by the Johannesburg
metro police department (JMPD) to stop dangerous driving and to enforce the
law. It began on Monday, 9 March and by Friday 151 drivers had been arrested.
The JMPD spokesperson, Edna Mamonyane, says
the law is being enforced with those motorists in mind who disregard the rules
of the road and do as they please.
"Lives have been lost because of reckless driving, so we want to send a
message to motorists that they should respect other motorists and pedestrians
on the road by respecting road rules," she explains.
"For example, we target those who jump red
robots, disregard four-way stops and those who get on one-way roads and go in
the opposite direction of the road."
The South African Police Service is part of
Operation Nomakanjani. Mamonyane says they are not targeting any specific group,
like taxi drivers. "We arrest anyone who does not follow road rules and not
taxi drivers only. But unfortunately they [have been] the ones who have dominated
the people who have been arrested since we started."
In all, 120 officers take part in the
operation each day. Offenders are arrested on the spot and are taken to a
police station to be charged. Bail is R2 000. Their cars are impounded, and
cost R650 to get back.
Mamonyane advises motorists to respect road
rules and to drive carefully. The campaign, which began in the central business
district, will continue for the next two months. It will also expand to other
areas of Johannesburg.
It takes place from Monday to Friday.
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