Abstract

This note examines Zilwa v MEC for Transport and Public Works, a Western Cape High Court judgment that declared unlawful a warrantless arrest and detention for excessive speeding. While the judgment reaffirms and emphasises the constitutional sanctity of the right to liberty, it seems to depart from the wording of s 40(1)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, read with Schedule 1 and s 89 of the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996. Assessing the Zilwa judgment against the Supreme Court of Appeal decision in Minister of Safety and Security v Sekhoto 2011 (1) SACR 315 (SCA) suggests that the court may have taken a route that sits uncomfortably with precedent. The court may also have created a form of operational paralysis or, at least, added another administrative layer in traffic law enforcement.