The national implementation of the Aarto Act has been confirmed with government rolling out regulations in phases
Clauses relating to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) demerit system will come into effect next year.
In a bulk gazette that contained 16 notices and proclamations, national government on Friday declared the commencement dates for certain sections of the Aarto Act and its subsequent amendment.
Implementation of the act will be done in phases, beginning in December for some municipalities.
Aarto commencement dates
The Aarto Act was passed in 1998, with the amendment containing the demerit system signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019.
Friday’s gazette stated that the whole of the 1998 Act, with the exception of Section 29(g), will come into effect for 69 municipalities in 1 December.
Sections 17 to 20, section 23 and sections 29 to 35 of the 2019 amendment will also come into effect for those 69 municipalities on 1 December.
These municipalities include Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Mangaung, eThekwini and Cape Town.
Five months later, 144 municipalities receive the same stipulations on 1 April 2026. These include the Knysna, Drakenstein, Bela-Bela, Umvoti and 140 other local municipalities.
Section 24, which covers the demerit system, as well as sections 25 to 28 will come in effect for all municipalities from 1 September 2026.
Constitutional court case
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) challenged the amendments and took the matter all the way to Constitutional Court.
The civil society group asserted that the amendments did not adequately deal with road traffic safety and that it hampered municipalities’ ability to regulate their own affairs.
“Outa is of the opinion that the Aarto practical challenges are largely due to poor enforcement, a lack of administrative discipline when it comes to traffic infringement management, and a variety of problems in the management of vehicle and driver licencing,” the organisation stated at the time.
In July 2023, the court ruled against Outa, with then Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s judgment declaring that the amendments were constitutional.
Employee implications
Section 17 of the Act deals with the responsibilities of those who employ drivers.
“Aarto will make employers potentially face administrative and financial burdens for their employees’ non-compliance where their driving falls within the employees’ key duties and responsibilities,” Weber Wentzel advised previously.
The Act requires a company to appoint a proxy to represent company vehicles but the firm state that the proxy will not accumulate demerit points on the drivers’ behalf.
“However, the proxy must ensure that the demerit points are allocated to the correct driver.”
“Should the proxy not do so, the employer will be liable to pay the fine at three times the value applicable to ordinary license holders,” WeberWentzel stated.
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