AARTO demerit system delayed indefinitely  Go Back
Author: EGM Motor Group   Date: 15 May 2022

The new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) demerit system for traffic offences will not be rolled out on 1 July 2022 as scheduled by the Department of Transport following a High Court ruling declaring the demerit system unconstitutional and invalid.

The Pretoria High Court delivered its ruling on 13 January 2022. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) challenged the constitutional validity of AARTO and the AARTO Amendment Act and asked the court in October 2021 to declare both the main act and the amendment act unconstitutional.

Judge Annali Basson found in favour of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) and agreed with OUTA’s position that the legislation unlawfully intrudes upon the exclusive executive and legislative competence of the local and provincial governments envisaged in the Constitution, preventing local and provincial governments from regulating their own affairs.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said during a press conference following the ruling that the department would appeal the court ruling, saying AARTO is the final piece of the puzzle in implementing a new road traffic management system by the democratic state. “The importance of AARTO in driving behaviour change of motorists and providing disincentives for unbecoming conduct cannot be overemphasised.”

Mabula announced in July 2021 that the demerit system will be introduced in a phased approach. The first phase was supposed to come into effect from July 2021 to September 2021 during which AARTO outlets were to be established and eNATIS enabled to collect AARTO payments.

The second phase was planned for October 2021 to December 2021 during which metropolitan authorities were to ‘come online’.

The third phase from January 2022 to June 2022 included municipalities being added to the system, and the fourth phase would introduce the demerit system and a rehabilitation programme for repeat offenders.