Senior politician’s relative arrested for allegedly driving at 222km/h in KZN.
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KwaZulu-Natal's Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) has confirmed the arrest of a motorist who allegedly clocked at 222km/h in a 120km/h zone during an enforcement operation on a provincial highway.
Ndabezinhle Sibiya, the spokesperson for the KZN MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma said the driver was intercepted during the #NenzaniLaEzweni operation after being detected driving at excessive speed.
"We have received a report from our highly efficient and no-nonsense RTI Team about an influx of frantic calls from senior government officials, sympathisers, friends, and community leaders," said Sibiya.
Sibiya said there were attempts to influence the process following the arrest, allegedly due to the driver's connection to a senior political figure.
"They were pleading with RTI not to arrest a son of a senior politician despite clocking 222 km/h in a 120 km/h zone."
He added that the vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz, was stopped as part of routine enforcement and that the driver's alleged political links were only disclosed after the arrest.
"The relation of the driver and a senior politician was only revealed by the callers who clearly wanted the No Nonsense RTI Team to be unethical."
Sibiya said the department would on Monday release details of convictions and sentencing in separate speeding cases involving five motorists, including a police officer, arrested on the N2 by RTI Park Rynie.
He further defended the legality of the operations, saying enforcement teams remain empowered to act against reckless driving under the Criminal Procedure Act.
"Our highly efficient and dedicated RTI team is guided by Section 40(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act 51 of 1977), to continue to arrest and remove from our road networks reckless and irresponsible drivers, as they are a major risk to other innocent road users."
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