Law enforcement (speed and other violations) is usually done by portable or stationary, radar or laser cameras. Local police forces, especially in rural areas, direct a lot of their efforts in to fining motorists. Non camera portable radar and laser systems are also used and you may be pulled over for speeding (or other violations) and given a written fine. Fines can be sent to the registered address of the vehicle you are driving, but paying on-the-spot fines is also common, usually the policeman will hold your license whilst you go to the local police station to pay the fine, you get a receipt, and drive back to where you were stopped hand the receipt over to to the policeman get your license back - this can take a good hour or more, which can be more of an annoyance than the R400 fine.
In general, the police are pretty honest, but they do respond to politeness and deference to their authority. You may find that when a traffic police officer stops you they will ask for some fairly ludicrous piece of paperwork (a letter from the Ministry... the cars road worthiness certificate...) and that you are in lots of trouble if you don't have it - be firm, cool and friendly and state that you understand that all you need is a drivers license etc. In general, the police want an easy life and can't be bothered to argue for ages if they think you aren't going to offer a 'tip'.
South Africa currently does not have a merits system and does not share traffic violation information with other nations.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about South Africa
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in South Africa - updated Apr 2024
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South Africa Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
