R16 million traffic fine target from a South African municipality raises concerns

The Hessequa Municipality Traffic Department has an official quarterly performance target of R4 million to be collected through traffic fines.

The Freedom Front Plus said that this R16 million annual traffic fine target is concerning, as the focus should be on ensuring road safety rather than revenue generation.

The Hessequa Municipality is located within the Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape.

The largest towns in the municipality are Riversdale, Heidelberg, and Stilbaai, and the N2 highway goes straight through the area.

On Tuesday, 4 August 2026, the Freedom Front Plus raised concerns about the Hessequa Municipality Traffic Department’s traffic fine target.

“The Municipality’s key performance indicators state that R4 million must be collected through fines every quarter,” it said.

“This practice is unacceptable because traffic law enforcement should focus solely on ensuring road safety and protecting road users and not on revenue generation.”

The party said that residents are increasingly complaining about inappropriate conduct by traffic officers.

“The public feels that financial targets rather than safety seem to be the driving force behind such conduct,” it said.

The Freedom Front Plus argued that when performance is linked to monetary value, a conflict of interest arises.

“Officers are indirectly encouraged to issue as many fines as possible rather than prioritise the most serious offences,” it said.

This erodes public trust and turns traffic policing from a safety function into a revenue-generating function, which contravenes the objective of the National Road Traffic Act.

“No traffic officer or department should ever be pressured to collect a specified amount in traffic fines,” it said.

“The Municipality needs to review this performance requirement and remove financial collection targets from the Traffic Department’s key objectives.”

It said that performance measures ought to include visibility, accident prevention, and improved public safety.

“Hessequa residents deserve traffic law enforcement focused solely on ensuring safety, not one that treats motorists as a source of income,” it said.