According to their website, the South African Department of Transport's core values include the maintenance of "fairness and equity" in all operations.

But when it comes to certain speed cameras, particularly those of the mobile variety, what exactly constitutes 'fair'?

Surely officers hiding in the bushes, taking aim at unsuspecting motorists on low-risk roads is not fair? And surely having two cameras in close proximity to each other on the same road is not aboveboard?

It all comes down to the primary purpose of a speed camera. Is it to force motorists to reduce speed in high-risk areas or just unadulterated revenue generation?

If it were the former, then there would be no need for the operators of mobile cameras to conceal themselves. And if it is in fact the latter, well, let's just say that the better the camouflage, the higher the 'profit'.

So, the burning question is this: is there any legislation out there defining whether or not deliberately concealed speed cameras are legal?

Well, after ploughing through seemingly endless documents such as the National Road Traffic Act, the Criminal Procedures Act, the Administration and Adjudication of Road Offences Act and even Part 29 of the National Prosecuting Authority's 'Policy Manual to all Public Prosecutors', this writer could find nothing relevant on a national level.

But eventually, after having spent more time ?researching' the matter on the Web than my employers will be thrilled to find out, I stumbled across the City of Cape Town's 'Traffic Violation Camera Policy' (2007).

In this document, mobile cameras are described as intending "to maintain a broad visible enforcement presence" in areas that don't warrant fixed cameras.

But with the launch of units like the City of Cape Town's 'Ghost Squad' ? a team of undercover officers making motorists think twice before breaking the rules of the road ? it seems the general approach to enforcement of traffic laws has shifted further from overt towards covert.

The document goes on to add: "Mobile camera enforcement by its very nature involves at times a degree of concealment. This could be as a result of such practicalities as ensuring the safety of the operator, vehicle and/or the camera.

"Every attempt must be made not to be excessive or over imaginative in this regard and mobile camera enforcement must be visible by approaching motorists at least thirty (30) metres from the point where the enforcement occurs."

Interesting... so, there appears to be no concrete measures ? since the terms "excessive" and "over imaginative" are rather difficult to apply objectively ? in Cape Town (this can probably be extrapolated to the rest of the country) governing the concealment of speed camera operators.

While I'll admit that exceeding the speed limit is quite simply a crime, speed trapping purely for financial purposes isn't exactly principled either. Trapping should be restricted to infamously high-risk areas or better still, as the Justice Project South Africa is currently campaigning for, mobile speed cameras should be banned in their entirety.

South Africa needs its law enforcement agencies to be visible. Until the operators of mobile speed cameras are forced to follow some sort of legislation regarding concealment, the values of "fairness and equity" on our roads will continue to be held hostage.

And the country's motorists will be literally poorer for it.

What do you think about mobile speed traps? Comment below!