Simon Nare

Simon Nare

Mamelodi Sundowns striker Lerato Shabangu is adamant that a speed camera that caught him driving at 207km at the weekend was faulty.

"There was no way I could have been travelling at that speed because I had just off-ramped. As far as I know I was travelling at 140km an hour in a 120km an hour zone.

"With this car travelling at that speed, I would have felt like I was dying," maintained the striker.

Shabangu said he was visiting a friend in Fourways at about 11pm when he was stopped by traffic officers.

He claimed that the officers did not show him the recorded speed by the camera, which captured him from the rear. He said the officers gave conflicting versions of his speed.

He spent five hours at the police station arranging bail. "My car doesn't have number plates yet because it is still new. So when they stopped me I thought it was because of this. But to my surprise I was told I was speeding.

"Initially one of the officers said I was travelling at 270km. Another one said I clocked 170km an hour. I never saw the clocked speed in the camera, I only saw the back of my car. I had just off-ramped so how could I have been travelling at that speed?" he said.

Shabangu was released on a R1000 bail and will appear in court soon on a speeding charge.

Metro police Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said Shabangu could have been caught during a high-speed operation. The operation uses a laser machine and can capture a car that has no number plates.