Depuis 2002, la lutte contre l'insécurité routière est devenue une priorité nationale. Cette dernière s'est traduite par une politique répressive dite de « tolérance zéro » à l'égard des contrevenants et délinquants au Code de la route. Cette répression, à la fois administrative et pénale peut cependant se heurter à certaines difficultés lorsque l'infraction revêt un caractère d'extranéité, car commise par un conducteur titulaire d'un permis de conduire délivré par une autorité étrangère ou à l'aide d'un véhicule immatriculé à l'étranger. L'absence ou quasi-absence de répression de ces infractions, outre ses conséquences sur l'insécurité routière, est source d'un profond sentiment d'inégalité tout particulièrement dans les zones transfrontières et nécessite donc de nouvelles réponses. Sur le plan administratif, ces nouvelles réponses résident entre autres dans l'extension de la portée transfrontalière d'une mesure administrative mais également par le développement d'un permis de conduire à points propre à l'Union Européenne. Sur le plan pénal, ces nouvelles réponses passent par une coopération renforcée entre les États afin de pouvoir identifier les propriétaires de véhicules dans les cas où le véhicule n'est pas intercepté par les forces de l'ordre. L'instauration de systèmes automatisés de contrôle de la circulation routière nécessite de la part des États et de l'Union européenne un développement de l'échange transfrontalier d'informations. / Fighting to achieve road safety has been a top national priority since 2002. It has led to the so-called « zero-tolerance » policy with highway code delinquents and traffic offenders. This repression which is both administrative and penal may however prove problematic should the offence bear an extraneous aspect, when it is committed by a driver with a foreign driving licence or when the vehicle was registered abroad. That such offences never or quasi-never be punished besides the consequences on road safety, gives rise to a deep feeling of inequality particularly in cross-border areas and therefore calls for new answers. Administratively speaking, the new answers lie, among other things, in a widening of the cross-border range of administrative measures, but also in developing a driving licence with a penalty point system specific to the EU. Penally speaking such new answers suppose a closer cooperation among states so as to be able to identify vehicle owners should the vehicle fail to be intercepted by the police. Introducing automated control systems of road traffic requires that states and the EU increase cross-border information exchange.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies / The study investigates the management of traffic law in Limpopo Province with specific reference to Vhembe District and explore possible solutions to the challenges facing Vhembe District in the management of traffic law. Road transport safety, particularly enforcement of traffic laws is challenging globally, especially in developing countries, where it affects both road users and governments. Due to a number of reasons the subculture of traffic and other law enforcement agents is not always viewed in a favorable light. Media reports and newspaper articles give evidence of a total disregard for law enforcement and lack of respect for law enforcement officials. The study used both quantitative and qualitative techniques for data collection and analysis. The Quantitative techniques were mostly used in that they provided the researcher with an understanding of experiences and challenges facing traffic officers in the management of traffic law in Limpopo Province with specific reference to Vhembe District. A simple random and purposive sample was used for selection of a sample population. A purposive sampling technique will be employed in selection study participants of qualitative method. A sample of 50 traffic officers was randomly selected for the survey and 10 traffic chiefs and principals were purposively selected for the interviews. The study found that of lack of good managerial skills, lack of motivation to work, shortage of staff, lack of modern equipment and lack of training as challenges. The treatment of traffic offenses as “petty” by the Department of Justice and in particular magistrates was also identified as a major challenge. The study recommends that the Department of Transport Management should provide traffic police officials with sufficient resources and equipment at the traffic police stations in order to perform optimally. / NRF

To gather together is a natural human activity shared by all people. The majority of these activities take place without the involvement of the government, and is of no interest to the law. In South Africa, the right to assemble peacefully, to demonstrate, to picket or to present petitions, is protected in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. When people gather, be it peaceful or violent, participants run the risk of being arrested for committing offences. The way the government of the day reacts to gatherings influence the policing, prosecution and adjudication of offences arising from the right to gather. Current legislation and common-law offences utilised to curb disorder in South Africa are measured against international and regional case law and guidelines. Most of these case law and guidelines linked to international and regional instruments are similar in many respects, and can be deemed as universally acceptable. It is proposed that the government revisits the mixture of current offences utilised by the prosecution during dissent, public violence or protest action, and that specific public order offences are created, providing for specific unlawful conduct with corroborating sentences. Police powers must furthermore be clearly defined to strengthen the hand of the police to secure law and order, serve as guarantee for the rights and freedoms of everyone, and to create legal certainty. The government must organise applicable public order offences in a single public order act. Legislation applicable to public order must be accessible and easily understandable since protest may be the only avenue for a member of the public to bring his or her plight under the attention of the government. Existing guidelines from applicable international and regional instruments which guide and monitor executive conduct must be included since these guidelines qualify as public order offences. / Criminal and Procedural Law / LL. D. (Criminal and Procedural Law)