- Two magisterial districts have released the latest Level 3 lockdown fine schedule.
- Offenders will face hefty fines if they fail to adhere to lockdown regulations.
- Repeated offences within the Alert Level 3 period will be referred to the court for prosecution.
Thinking of breaking Level 3 lockdown regulations?
Lawbreakers will pay a hefty fine if they fail to adhere to various regulations which were implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Chief magistrates across the country have been releasing admission of guilt schedules for their provinces.
News24 looks at some of the admission of guilt fine schedules for Welkom in the Free State and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal.
Gauteng is expected to release its latest schedule later this week, while the other provinces are yet to publish their July schedules following the government’s decision to reintroduce a curfew and ban the sale of alcohol products.
Offences that will result in a person coughing up money include the transportation of liquor, wearing of a mask and convening prohibited gatherings, among others.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola previously said the government had been reluctant to criminalise not wearing masks but if left with no choice due to continued irresponsible behaviour this would be considered, News24 reported.
Lamola added the obligation had been placed on the shoulders of compliance officers of public buildings and taxis, and not on individuals, to ensure people entering their spaces were wearing masks.
Chief magistrate A Motlekar of Welkom, who signed his area’s schedule on 20 July, said repeated offences during Alert Level 3 would be referred to court.
Welkom:
The schedule indicates that if you are a public transport driver or operator who fails to take reasonable steps to ensure a person uses, operates or performs any service on any such public transport while not wearing a cloth face mask you will have to cough up to R3 000.
Managers, owners of buildings, places or premises used by the public to obtain goods or services and fails to take reasonable steps to ensure no person enters such a building, place or premises, while not wearing a mask will pay R2 000.
Should a person be caught operating a long distance intra-provincial or inter-provincial bus or taxi service of 200km or more, while carrying more than 70% of the licenced capacity of the vehicle, they will pay R3 000.
The schedule also indicates employers who fail to ensure their employees are provided with a mask when in the workplace, will be fined R2 000.
Being outside your residence between 21:00 and 04:00 will cost you R3 000. This after President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed a national curfew after it was lifted nearly a month ago.
Attending a gathering at a place or premises where cultural, sporting, entertainment, leisure, exhibitional, organisational will cost you R2 000. Those who convene a prohibited gathering will pay R5 000.
The selling, dispensing or distributing of liquor is also prohibited and lawbreakers will be fined R5 000, while selling of tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes and related products to members of the public and to persons, including retailers who sell directly, will be fined R3 000.
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Transporting alcohol except for the transportation relating to alcohol required for industries producing hand sanitisers, disinfectants, soap or alcohol for industrial use and household cleaning products will cost you R5 000.
Durban:
Meanwhile, in Durban, there is no admission of guilt fine for the prohibition of sale, dispensing, distributing or transporting liquor.
The schedule was signed on 24 July by chief magistrate EB Ngubane.
There is also no admission of guilt fine for the sale of tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes and related products.
However, in the schedule signed on 24 July, the chief magistrate indicates anyone who publishes statements to deceive individuals about Covid-19 will be fined R1 500.
A person who intentionally makes a misrepresentation that any person is infected with Covid-19 will be fined R2 000.
And drivers, managers or building owners who do not ensure members of the public, who use or enter their premises, wear a mask will have to pay R1 000.
Employers who fail to provide their employees with a face mask will pay a R1 000 fine.
Other admission of guilt fines include:
– Convening of illegal gathering in defiance of the national state of disaster is R1 000.
– Failure to be confined to his or her place of residence between 21:00 until 04:00 will cost you R1 000 in the Duran district.
– Attending or hosting a night vigil will see you paying a fine of R500.
– Evicting or causing another person to be evicted from his or her own home or land during alert Level 3 without authorisation by the court carries a R3 000 fine.
