The Mailowl Scrolls

Being pulled over by the police is generally never fun or done at an appropriate moment although experience has taught me to be jovial and attentive because a cop in a bad mood is far worse to have to deal with than a cop who’s just doing his job.  Anyways, I was pulled over yesterday while they were checking for outstanding fines and warrants of arrest and unfortunately I had 2 statutory fines totalling R400 which was proved in a print-out with speed camera photos attached.

Before I could raise any comment about possible corruption if I just handed money over, I was told to walk off to a nearby parked van where I’d receive a receipt and confirmation that I’ve paid the fines.  This was great as I have no problem complying with the law and paying my guilt so long as there’s proof of payment; and I was greeted by a friendly staff who quickly processed my fines so I could be on my way.

But standing at the back of the van with the photographs and fines in my hand imagine my surprise when I see a sign, stuck to the side of the vehicle, saying I could pay my fines online at Payfine.co.za!

And after enquiring, you can indeed pay your fines online for: Cape Town, Greater Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Swellendam and Mosselbay with more areas being added (although I couldn’t get a timeline as to when).  You can also access most of the photos associated with the fines (unfortunately they don’t have access to all. I’d blame the bureaucratic nature of the way the traffic departments are setup); and, unfortunately, they only accept credit cards. Another note is that it can take up to 24 hours to go from the website to the traffic department but thankfully the website allows you to print a receipt.

This is a step in the right direction for modernizing the bureaucracy in South Africa.  I’ve mentioned a couple of times that South Africans are becoming comfortable spending money online and I hope they provide more payment channels and get access to more areas soon.  This site needs marketing so that more people can benefit from its convenience.

On a final note, Payfine.co.za is being developed and maintained by Syntell who, according to their website, is quite involved in assisting local government revenue collection and providing complete camera-based traffic violation systems.