Aarto will dramatically change the way traffic law enforcement takes place.
With only a month to go before it takes effect in 69 municipalities countrywide, the regulations that spell out in detail how the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act will work have been published in the Government Gazette on 31 October.
Aarto will dramatically change the way traffic law enforcement takes place. It aims to remove traffic offences from the courts and handle them administratively.
Alleged offenders first receive an infringement notice, and if they pay it within a set period, they qualify for a substantial discount. If not, the matter is escalated.
The system also introduces demerit points, and once a driver accumulates a certain number of points, their licence can be suspended or even cancelled.
The details of this system were first set out in draft regulations in 2019, but according to Rob Handfield-Jones of Driving.co.za, those were riddled with errors and practically unworkable.
“We will now compare the final regulations just released with the earlier draft version,” Handfield-Jones said.
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Pressing ahead
Although Aarto has been on the statute books since 2019, it has so far only been applied in part and only in Johannesburg and Tshwane.
Several previous attempts to expand its implementation were postponed at the last minute, but the national Department of Transport, now under the leadership of Minister Barbara Creecy, is determined to press ahead.
The plan is to extend the system to 69 municipalities on 1 December, and to the remainder on 1 April next year, after which it will apply uniformly across the country.
The demerit point system will only come into effect once the Act is fully implemented nationwide.
Cornelia van Niekerk, owner of Fines4U, which manages traffic fines on behalf of individuals and companies, welcomed the publication of the regulations. She said her company is ready to assist clients with their Aarto compliance.
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However, van Niekerk expressed concern about municipalities’ capacity to manage the system, which is administratively intensive.
“Many municipalities I work with say they are not yet ready, but the Road Traffic Infringement Agency [RTIA], which is responsible for nationwide implementation, insists that training has been provided and that Aarto can no longer be delayed,” she said.
Van Niekerk added that the national rollout has been delayed for years and said it’s time for certainty — “Aarto must now be fixed or scrapped.”
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
