The Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) has been unable to issue, process, or capture fines since October 2024 following an expiration of a contract with Syntell, a provider of road safety and fine management services, as per an exclusive EWN report.
The Syntell contract was initially scheduled to expire in 30 June but was extended for three months, and thus lapsed at the end of September 2024 without being renewed.
Syntell was contracted to manage the capturing and processing of fines, as well as warrants and summons, and provide automatic number plate recognition technologies to the EMPD.
Senior sources within the EMPD allegedly confirmed that they are unable to issue fines and process other infringements until a new service provider is appointed.
However, EMPD officers continue to pull over and stop motorists to check for traffic law infringements.
An internal email circulated in January, seen by EWN, indicated the metro’s intention to bring its law enforcement systems in-house via a so-called “Integrated Law Enforcement Management System.”
The system was meant to “Go-Live” on 11 January 2025, but this didn’t happen. EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi said the system is still under development.
Not the first time
The EMPD’s situation isn’t the first time a major metro has been unable to dole out fines to motorists.
Back in October 2021, it was revealed that both the City of Tshwane as well as the City of Johannesburg hadn’t issued any fines for over three months.
At the time, Johannesburg was in the exact same boat as it couldn’t provide the vital services due to an expired contract with Syntell.
Only in April 2022 was it discovered that the problem went deeper than initially expected.
At the time, the Johannesburg Metro Police Department revealed that the city had no working speed cameras for almost a year, and that all speed prosecutions have halted as a result, with the issue extending to handheld cameras, too.
During this time, officers were relying on handwritten fines to ensure serious offenders were still prosecuted.
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