Public transport operators say they will embark on a week-long nationwide strike from Wednesday this week, to express dissatisfaction with what they call ‘ridiculous fines that the mobile traffic court imposes for traffic offences’.
The mobile traffic court is a specialised judicial process for handling traffic ticket cases. People who are given a citation by a police officer will be given a chance to plead guilty and pay the indicated fine directly to the court house.
Being mobile makes the mobile traffic court a formal court that will conduct proceedings in locations, usually in remote areas where no justice services are available. Designed to save time, reduce legal and other expenses, the mobile traffic court goes to the place of offence and provides justice speedily.
Apart from the so-called exorbitant fines, Maseru Regional Transport Operators chairperson, Mokete Jonase, accused the mobile court of not giving offenders an opportunity to defend themselves and disregarding any extenuating circumstances.
At the meeting held in Maseru today, one of the taxi drivers Thabiso Tśehla of TY decried problems like the poor state of Lesotho’s roads and absence of proper bus and taxi terminals, which persist despite the authorities fining motorists heavily for ‘negligible offences like cracked windshields and worn tires’.
