Attempts to trick a North West Public Safety traffic office to avoid his cargo being weighed at the Zeerust Weighbridge proved futile for a truck tractor driver who was arrested this week near Ottoshoop on the Mafikeng-Zeerust road. In his second arrest in less than a month, on the same road, driving the same vehicle, with the same cement cargo, the driver was allegedly found to have overloaded in excess of the permissible mass by 11 600 kg.
The 44 years old driver employed by Flinkdink Transport was stopped by a provincial traffic officer on Wednesday while transporting 18 palettes of cement from PPC Cement factory at Slurry outside Mafikeng. While being escorted to Zeerust Weighbridge, the driver pulled off the road and alleged that the company truck-tractor had broken down.
The traffic officer then drove a few kilometres away to where he could watch the truck-tractor while out of sight. He saw the driver de-couple the trailers and try to flee with only the truck-tractor. The officer rushed over and stopped the truck, re-attached the trailers to the truck-tractor and once again escorted the driver to the weighbridge to weigh his vehicle which was found to be overloaded.
The driver was out on bail after being arrested on the very road on the 21st October 2009 for overloading the truck-tractor and two trailers by 11 060kg.His earlier case was postponed in the Zeerust Magistrates Court to 2 December 2009.
The Zeerust Magistrates Court is set to issue a notice for the operator/owner of the motor vehicle to appear in court for overloading of the vehicle.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele
Tel: 018 381 9171
Cell: 083 629 1987
E-mail: LKgwele@nwpg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Public Safety, North West Provincial Government
13 November 2009
