It is unfortunate that some people may pay the admission of guilt fine without committing the alleged criminal offence, only to discover the repercussions later. ‘The main consequence is that the accused admits that [he or she] did in fact commit the alleged criminal offence and that [he or she] is guilty. The Criminal Procedure Act clearly states that the payment of an admission of guilt fine will be the same as being convicted and sentenced in court.
This means that an accused will have a criminal record as it will be captured by the clerk of the magistrate’s court in the criminal record for admission of guilt fines. If the fine was paid at a police station, the relevant information and documents must be forwarded to the clerk of the magistrate’s court’ (Legal Wise (op cit)
Credit derebus.org.za
In the case of minor offences such as speeding fines, licence offences, illegal parking and the like are normally within the category of Section 341/Schedule 3 offences. There is no prosecution for the matter and therefore no criminal record upon payment by the offender