Aarto implementation date of 1 December ‘still tentative'

The Citizen

5 days ago

Is your municipality one of the 69?
Serial offenders will be at risk of losing their driver's licences. Picture: Moneyweb
Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) spokesperson Monde Mkalipi says the 1 December date for implementing the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Act in 69 municipalities countrywide, and the names of those municipalities, is still tentative.
The current list of municipalities – which you can view here – includes all the metro councils and the larger towns and cities in all provinces.
The RTIA, an agency of the Department of Transport (DoT), administers the Aarto Act and its amended version.
It became operational in 2010 but the RTIA has been unable to implement parts of Aarto beyond Johannesburg and Tshwane. Several deadlines for countrywide implementation have been missed and postponed.
The Aarto Amendment Act, which was presented as making necessary changes to enable countrywide implementation, has been signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but he has yet to promulgate the date on which it becomes operational.
Before that can happen, he must also appoint an Appeals Board as required by the act.
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Confusion around timing
Confusion followed Deputy Minister of Transport Mkhuleko Hlengwa's announcement during his budget speech earlier this month that Aarto will be implemented in 69 municipalities on 1 October and the other 144 on 1 February next year.
His speech has since been 'corrected' on the DoT website to change the October date to 1 December. The February date for the final roll-out remains unchanged.
However, Mkalipi says there will only be certainty once the promulgation has been made and announced in the Government Gazette.
He says consultation must still be finalised, 'including with the municipalities'.
Hlengwa's published statement now reads that Aarto 'will be rolled out in different phases according to municipal readiness from 1 December 2025 for the 69 municipalities that are ready for the rollout'.
'This is Phase 2 of the Aarto rollout programme, while Phase 3 will be rolled out on 1 February 2026 for the 144 municipalities that will only be ready then.'
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The legislation has been in operation in Tshwane and Johannesburg since 2008.
Still, the points demerit system provided for in the legislation will only be operational once Aarto is in effect countrywide. This will constitute the fourth and final stage, says Mkalipi.
Once the act is in full operation, serial offenders will be at risk of losing their driver's licences if they exceed a certain number of demerit points and fail to mend their ways.
If the rollout progresses according to the deputy minister's target dates, it will only be after a long series of false starts.
Initially, municipalities and other stakeholders expressed considerable resistance, often accompanied by threats of litigation.
There were also concerns about the readiness of municipalities to administer the complex system. Some of the concerns seem to have been addressed in the Amendment Act – and Hlengwa seems confident that the 69 municipalities are now ready for implementation on 1 December.
ALSO READ: RTIA says Aarto Act implementation will increase municipalities' income
'No point without points demerits'
JP Smith, Cape Town MMC for safety and security, says the city will have no choice but to implement Aarto if it is included in the proclamation.
However, he is very critical of its implementation without the points demerit system.
'This is the only useful part of the act. Implementing without it will be an impediment to law enforcement.
'It is like me giving you an ice cream, but I only hand you the cone.'
Smith says the city is relying on the fact that it can still use its current bylaw to prosecute traffic transgressions.
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Unresolved issues
Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, says much discussion still needs to happen before the Aarto Amendment Act can be implemented.
'We sent a lot of comments when new regulations were issued for comment in 2019, and they haven't come back to us about it. Maybe they will go ahead anyway,' he says.
The points demerit system is the essence of Aarto. Kelly says implementing without it will change how municipalities issue contravention notices.
'If the authorities start issuing Aarto paperwork, they will still be accountable in court if they don't follow due process – and we don't see that [due process] in Johannesburg and Tshwane.'
He says issues about how vehicle fleets are dealt with in the Aarto process, including attaching points to vehicles, have not been resolved.
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'You cannot change the behaviour of vehicles. You must change the behaviour of drivers.'
Kelly says the authorities are trying to make money by, for example, charging fees to access the status on the points demerit system.
'In other countries, anybody can at any time access the points free of charge.'
Employers must also be allowed to see how many points have been awarded against their drivers, but with the fees that have been proposed 'some companies will go bankrupt by paying access fees'.
Advocate Stefanie Fick, executive director for accountability at Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, says transitional measures must be published to guide stakeholders when the Aarto Amendment Act becomes operational, and regulations governing the act must determine how it will operate.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.