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A Kraaifontein pensioner says she recently became a soft target for a law enforcement officer when he issued her a parking fine at the Kraaifontein day hospital, an allegation the City vehemently denies.
But the 74-year-old Wilhemina van der Heever from Scottsville is not convinced of this as she ponders on how she is going to pay the R500 fine received when she took her disabled 73-year-old brother to the clinic.
“l also have chronic physical ailments and myself attend the local day hospital in Kraaifontein for health services as we cannot afford to make use of private health care,” she says.
Limited parking
On the day in question they both had doctor’s appointments at the hospital.
“As parking is limited and there is no disabled parking, the security allowed me to drop off my brother at the reception area because of his physical and mental well-being. I then had to go and find parking outside of the hospital premises,” she says.
Then, while looking for parking she encountered a law enforcement officer.
“I spoke to him and he told me that they are only checking on vehicle registration discs and even saw me parking in an area in a side street where nowhere any ‘No Parking signs’ appear,” she says.
“After we were seen by the doctor and medication dispensed I went to fetch the vehicle in order to pick up my brother who was waiting for me inside the hospital grounds. Upon arrival at my vehicle I found to my astonishment a traffic fine for R500 attached to my vehicle. I posted my experience on our local Whatsapp group and to my horror I discovered that this is a daily occurrence at the hospital.”
She said she is annoyed at the fact that senior citizens have become soft targets as “there are countless ways for the city to collect revenue”.
Complaints received
Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for the City’s law enforcement, says officers received several complaints regarding illegal parking in the said area when the fine was issued.
“There is ample legal parking available; however some motorists choose to park illegally. When issuing a fine for illegal parking, officers are not aware who the drivers are, so the allegation of officers targeting senior citizens is not true,” he says.
“Officers have a responsibility to attend to complaints received and enforcing the relevant City by-laws. If an offender is of the opinion that he/she is wrongfully charged, they can exercise their right to contest the fine, by either submitting representation to traffic.representation@capetown.gov.za or await the court date to appear in court.”
