Durban — Reservoir Hills residents are up in arms after a man received a fine of R500 for parking on the pavement outside a clinic on Thursday.
Logan Govender said he took his brother to the Reservoir Hills Clinic regularly and was taken aback when a Durban metro police minibus stopped behind his car and officers began issuing him with a ticket for being parked on the sidewalk of a public road.
Other motorists parking outside were also fined. Govender said there was no parking available inside the clinic premises.
He said they were soft targets for the police.
“I am considering what to do about the fine.
“Five of six metro cops got off the vehicle to harass law-abiding residents who were there to attend to a medical need or collect their medication,” Govender said.
“All the vehicles there were either (those of) patients or someone driving a patient. None of them were obstructing the flow of traffic. I thought it was in poor taste and inconsiderate. To pay R500 is just too much,” Govender said.
eThekwini ward councillor in Reservoir Hills Alicia Kissoon was alerted to the incident.
She said she would be discussing it with the metro police.
“Parking at the clinic has always been difficult and there are several other hot spots that should be targeted,” she said.
Reservoir Hills Ratepayers’ Association chairperson Ish Prahladh claimed that metro police were biased in their approach and would not deal with “real” transgressions.
“They will not go to New Germany Road informal settlement where cars are parked all over the street, pavements and kerbs hampering the flow of traffic to the Clare Estate Crematorium but they will target ratepayers.
“They should ticket the taxis permanently parked outside the shopping mall on both sides of the road,” Prahladh said.
A request for comment was sent to eThekwini Municipality and metro police on Tuesday but both had not responded by the time of publication.
Daily News