The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act…. 1 JULY 2021

01 July 2021 770

The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) says it is considering a number of options for the rollout of the Aarto Amendment Act and the new demerit system from 1 July 2021.

In its annual performance plan for 2021/2022, the agency said that this will include a possible delay of the points demerit system, as well as a potentially staggered provincial rollout.

The Aarto will penalise drivers and fleet operators who are guilty of traffic offences or infringements by imposing demerit points that could lead to the suspension or cancellation of licences, professional driving permits or operator cards.

It will also encourage the payment of fines and reduce the burden on South African courts, by removing the initial option to elect to appear in court.

The number of points incurred will be dependent on the nature of the traffic offence or charge. Currently, there are over 2,500 separate charges.

All drivers will start with zero points. Once the limit of points is exceeded, a driving licence is suspended for three months. Driving a vehicle during this ‘prohibition period’ is a criminal offense, subject to a fine or jail time.

If a licence is suspended for the third time, it will be cancelled, and a driver must start from scratch with a learner’s licence, etc. Demerit points do decrease by one point every three months, so drivers can work their way back down to zero.

There are some issues that will need to be addressed and the main issue is that administrative difficulties could cause the act not to be enforced as the RTIA wishes to.

The RTIA is said to be committed to moving forward on the new system nationally from July, however the RTIA as mentioned previously is aware about the Administrative difficulties as there is various parties involved in the enforcing of the RTIA.             

The agency said that the planned system is heavily reliant on a number of outside parties, including the Department of Transport and the South African Post Office, and that any compromised state of readiness may expose it to litigation.

For the new system to work, the RTIA said that it needs for all of the following to be in place:

  • The Aarto Act prescribes collaborating with the South African Post Office in discharging Aarto responsibilities.
  • The administration of the Aarto value chain is further dependent on the NCR which is administered by the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
  • A further reliance is on the Department of Transport to support the Presidency in the establishment of the Appeals Tribunal.
  • The Government Printing Works is responsible for printing the Aarto notice books.

The certainty on the state of readiness by all external stakeholders remains a challenge and out of the control of the RTIA.

 

 

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