Question posted in the Criminal Law category relating to Gauteng
This past Friday I was pulled over at OR Tambo airport at the international arrivals terminal for aparantly not stopping dead at a pedestrian crossing. I was of the opinion that I did stop but I could see from the guys attitude that it was going to be his word against mine. I am a law obiding citizen so I told him to do what he has to do. He told me that he is going to write me a R500 fine and I said that he must do so. He then proceeded to issue me with a fine i.t.o section 56 of the CPA of 1977 with main charges being S 58 (1) read with S 89 of thr NRTA 93/96. According to this document I must pay the admission of guilt fine or appear in court on 21 Sep 2023. I told the guy that surely I cannot get a criminal record for not coming to a complete stop at a stopstreet and he said that I must just pay the fine. I then paid the R500 fine via EFT to Ekurhuleni the flowing day and then subsequently saw that by paying it I acknowledge guilt and now has a criminal record. This is where I need advice. Do I now have a criminal record? If so, surely there must be something irregular about this as everyone that is being pulled over by these officers who often do not have pure intentions will now be stuck with a criminal record. Please help me with advice on what this entails and what I must do, or not do. Thank you very much for the assistance.
Message from the Lawyer
Hi there and thank you for your question,
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Technically, you have admitted guilt and paid the fine.
Given that the fine was issued in terms of the CPA and NRTA, you do have a criminal record, however if no fingerprints were taken from you, your name won't be entered into the national criminal database, so if anyone (or if the SAPS) do a criminal record check, your name won't appear. Therefore, even though technically you have admitted guilt, there is like a 99.99% chance that nobody will ever know of this ...
Read more: https://www.legalwise.co.za/help-yourself/legal-articles/consequences-paying-admission-guilt-fine
There are hundreds of thousands of people in the same position as you, and there are many people who make a big deal about this, the situation is really that the reality is that nobody will ever know of this.
Message from the client
From I've read online it seems as though Ekurhuleni is one of the metros that actually make a point of getting these records loaded even without fingerprints being taken. Do you reckon there is any truth in that?
Thanks again for the adivice Patrick
Message from the Lawyer
Do you reckon there is any truth in that? -> I honestly can't say, sorry. But even if the admission of guilt fine is listed, it would be listed as a regulatory-type offence, and not as a "real" criminal offence like murder or robbery. So I would not worry about it. I mean, I've paid admission of guilt fines before, and I don't worry.