My mother-in-law lives in the Mt Edgecombe estate and the issue of speeding fines for people driving around the estate with their 40km/h speed limit is often discussed. Similarly the legality of fines and penalties within sectional title complexes imposed by the Body Corporate have relevance too.
A Constitutional Court ruling, being our highest court of appeal in South Africa, dealt with this.
In the case, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that the National Traffic Act does not apply on ground privately owned and managed, even though cars transit the estate on roads in there, and that fines and penalties imposed by the Home Owners' Association were legal and enforceable. This judgment was subsequently upheld by the Constitutional Court.
It is argued in an article linked here, that this has severe consequences, for instance if a drunk driver on the estate were to have an accident, and the provisions of the National Traffic Act do not apply.
Here is what the Constitutional Court ruled, in upholding the judgment of the SCA..
