Public transport operators will be expected to fork out N$4 000 for failure to provide alcohol-based sanitiser to their passengers and regularly disinfecting the vehicle. 

This forms part of the newly revised admission of guilt fines to be issued against transgressors of Covid-19 regulations put in place to mitigate the spread of the virus.

In a circular addressed to all police regional commanders, police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga said there was a need for a unified list for the entire country. The fines were already gazetted in January 2021 and they will now be enforced.

Previously, the magistrate’s courts had the discretion to determine the fine depending on the offence, the circumstances around it and such a fine could not exceed N$6 000. 

Ndeitunga said although the police
are still required by law to issue notices of appearance in court, the same law gives provision that an “accused may admit his or her guilt in respect to the offence in question and that the accused may pay a stipulated fine in respect thereof without appearing in court”. 

“It is this office’s considered view that the adherence to this guidance will prevent congestion at police stations, overcrowding of police cells and take pressure off the overloaded court
system,” said Ndeitunga. 

He said the list has been endorsed by the attorney general’s office and the magistracy. 

In reference to the list, transgressors will now pay N$4 000 for leaving an isolation or quarantine facility without being discharged by an authorised person; illegally selling, distributing, or purchasing alcohol after 20h00 on any day of the week and organising gatherings that do not adhere to the stipulated number of people in attendance.

Transgressors will also be required to pay a fine of N$2 000 for not wearing a
mask in a public place, refusing to be tested when required to do so, illegally leaving a place of residence outside curfew hours, failing to bury a person who died of Covid-19 within seven days, refusing to allow authorised persons to handle the remains of a person who died of Covid-19, giving false information and or misrepresenting oneself to authorised persons, publishing false or misleading information relating to Covid-19, publishing false and misleading information about Covid-19 of any person and refusing to be quarantined.  -mamakali@nepc.com.na