Cape Town traffic fines have gone through the roof and some - for illegal parking and traffic light violations - are now more than double those in Johannesburg.
But speeding is among the few offences for which people in Cape Town pay less than they would in other parts of the country.
In Johannesburg, you would pay R1 100 for doing 100km/h in a 60km zone, but here you would be fined R450.
Going through a red robot would see you fork out a thousand rand in Cape Town, compared with R500 in Johannesburg.
Double parking in Cape Town would set you back by R500, whereas in Johannesburg the penalty is R200.
Gone are the days when a traffic offence meant a light slap on the wrist, says Ettiene Kleinhans, chief provincial inspector of Somerset West.
And gone are the days when a pink slip on your car's window was just a minor inconvenience.
Today you will have to cough up big money, says Kleinhans.
Part of this, he says, is to get the "rich guys" to take note of the law.
"In the past, for them to get a R100 or R200 fine meant nothing.
"But now, with fines of up to R1 000, you know they will think twice before disobeying a traffic rule.
"Unfortunately the poorer people suffer as well."
Every area has its own bylaws under which regional magistrates decide what fines will be meted out to offenders, says Edna Mamonyane, spokesperson for the traffic department in Johannesburg.
"In Durban and in Pretoria, speeding is a high priority (offence), so if you speed you would pay a lot of money - more than you would in Johannesburg."
Explaining the large discrepancies, Heathcliff Thomas, traffic co-ordinator for the City of Cape Town, said the traffic department had to give reasons to the magistrate why penalties for offences should be at certain levels.
"And that is why you will find discrepancies.
"For instance, going through a red robot causes very serious collisions and the fine has to be at a high enough level to deter such actions," Thomas said.
"As for parking, there is a huge parking shortage.
"And you will find that in the CBD of Cape Town parking penalties are relatively high in order to encourage a turnover of parking."
The Automobile Association's Petro Kruger says that any transgression of law that endangers another person's life should be fined very heavily.
"But where it is not dangerous, such as parking fines, then I can't see why they should be so high."