Who is supposed to police the police, or any law enforcer for that matter?

This is the question on many a resident´s mind, seen against the background of the general lawlessness with regard to traffic laws in Louis Trichardt. The situation is mainly attributed to the absence of municipal traffic law enforcement.

The municipality, however, says this is not the case.

“There is always visibility of our traffic officials in town and within the areas of jurisdiction of our municipality. The challenge is that we do not have enough staff to post at every corner,” says Mr Louis Bobodi, municipal spokesperson.

It is, however, argued that there is a difference between being visible and actually doing something. On more than one occasion it has been pointed out that the municipality could boost its income greatly through fines by merely starting to police problem areas such as Rissik Street. Stopping at a stop sign in Rissik Street has become the exception, not the rule.

Dysfunctional traffic lights are also a matter of concern. For months now the traffic light at the pedestrian crossing in front of the post office in Krogh Street has been out of order. As if that is not enough, a municipal vehicle was photographed parked illegally across the crossing last Tuesday morning, adding fuel to residents’ argument that one cannot expect law enforcers to enforce the law if they themselves break the law.

In response to the illegally parked municipal vehicle, Bobodi says that in terms of the law they do not discriminate on the basis of whether the offender works at the municipality or not. “We apply the law equally; however, there is always room for improvement. We are going to see to it that everything is done according to the book.” He added that the traffic light at the crossing would be repaired this week as they had only now received the necessary parts from their service provider.

Apart from the municipality, the local police also came under criticism the past week with regard to parking in Krogh Street. Last Monday, a photo was taken of a Makhado police vehicle illegally parked in front of a stop sign in such a way that it obstructed oncoming traffic and motorists wanting to turn left into Krogh Street from Landros Street.

In response, local police spokesperson Capt Maano Sadike said they could not condone this behaviour and that they had once again sensitized their members in this regard.

The illegally parked police vehicle again highlighted the issue of available parking space at the police’s charge office in Krogh Street. It is no secret that the town’s central business area seriously lacks adequate parking bays. Residents are frustrated that the few parking bays available in front of the charge office, restaurant and shops are taken up by police vehicles. However, Sadike urged the public to be tolerant.

“There are many departments in the building with us and we all have to share the same space,” he explained, adding that they try and alleviate the parking problem by instructing their members not to park their private vehicles there.