Question:
I wonder if you can clarify the legal position of having an attendant with a Horse in a towed Horse Box
I was recently stopped by a metro police official – not wearing a name badge – under the N14 bridge on the R511 ( just north of Diepsloot)
He demanded by drivers licence – which I supplied.
He then informed me I was breaking the law as I had my Head Groom holding a valuable horse in the Horse Box.
I told him – that to the best of my knowledge, there was a provision that if there was an animal in the towed vehicle, an attendant could be with them, and if that was incorrect – he could issue me a fine.
After now slowly walking round bakkie – he handed me back my licence –
BUT
Then made the comment that I had forced my groom to be in the trailer as he was Black, and I was treating him like n animal!!!
I thought my groom was going to kill the officer – that is if I did not
So I decided to leave the incident quickly.
I have now heard that a few other people have been stopped and threatened because they have attendants with the animals
Can you advise what the actual law is – as I can find no reference to this on the internet
Answer:
Your question is a good one and with your permission, I would like to share the answer so it may be online for anyone else who is curious.
The idiot traffic cop who pulled you over and decided to act as a racist, rather than explain the law to you simply showed his ignorance on so many levels.
If you cast your mind back to when you were studying for your learner’s licence, you may recall that there was a question or two about towing vehicles. Most people associate “vehicles” only with self-propelled vehicles called “motor vehicles”, like cars, bakkies, trucks, etc. But the word “vehicles” encompasses a whole lot more than just motorised vehicles, and trailers, of which a horse box is, are also vehicles.
Regulation 330 of the National Road Traffic Regulations deals with towing of vehicles and regulation 330(f) states: “No person shall operate a vehicle on a public road towing another vehicle if the towed vehicle is conveying persons at a speed in excess of 30 kilometres per hour, unless the towed vehicle is a semi-trailer.”
A semi-trailer is “a trailer having no front axle and so designed that at least 15 per cent of its tare is super-imposed on and borne by a vehicle drawing such trailer.”
Most horse boxes are nothing much more than a trailer with a roof and perhaps a dual axle, so they therefore you may not convey persons in them unless you drive at speeds below 30km/h at all times.
Best Regards,
Howard Dembovsky
National Chairman – Justice Project South Africa (NPC)