New traffic fines coming to 144 towns and cities in South Africa
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The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is scheduled to add 144 municipal areas to South Africa’s new traffic fine system between 1 January and 30 June 2022.
This is part of the third phase of the rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) system, which is currently only live in Johannesburg and Tshwane.
However, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) says that the agency has not yet completed important parts of Phase 2 — specifically bringing an appeals tribunal into full operation.
Outa legal affairs head Stefanie Fick recently told eNCA that the appeals tribunal is important, as the Aarto Amendment Act does away with motorists’ ability to challenge fines in court.
Considering that motorists will receive demerit points for traffic infringements, the proper functioning of the appeals tribunal is essential.
Under Aarto, you are allowed to accumulate 15 demerit points on your driving licence before it is suspended. A licence may be suspended twice before it is cancelled.
Outa has said that government should delay the implementation of Aarto and that it won’t achieve government’s stated goals.
“We are all for anything that will make sure that the carnage on our roads is minimised or eliminated. However, we don’t believe the Aarto system is going to achieve this,” Fick said.
Instead, Fick said Outa believes government should first focus resources on increasing visible policing.
“We believe that there’s some other practical ways of accomplishing the same same thing instead of trying to get this off the ground, which has taken an enormous amount of time,” said Fick.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said that it is working on a cohesive response to Aarto.
According to a report, the DA could use its newfound position of power in three major Gauteng metropolitan municipalities to thwart Aarto.
The rollout schedule the RTIA initially provided is summarised in the table below.
| Phase | Dates | Aarto functions to be implemented |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 1 July 2021 – 30 September 2021 |
|
| Phase 2 | 1 October 2021 – 31 December 2021 |
|
| Phase 3 | 1 January 2022 – 30 June 2022 |
|
| Phase 4 | 1 July 2022 |
|
Demerit points
Under the new demerit system, motorists will be allowed to accumulate 15 demerit points on their licence before it is suspended. A licence may be suspended twice before it is cancelled.
There are currently 2,659 offences listed on the Aarto website. The following table gives examples of various offences with differing amounts of demerit points attached.
| Offence | Undiscounted fine | Discounted fine | Demerit points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driving 131-135km/h on a road with a 120km/h restriction | R250 | R125 | 0 |
| Driving at 141-145km/h on road with 120km/h restriction | R750 | R375 | 2 |
| Skipping a red traffic signal – buses, minibus taxis, and trucks | R750 | R375 | 2 |
| Failing to yield to a pedestrian | R500 | R250 | 1 |
| Driving without a licence | R1,250 | R625 | 4 |
| Overloading a vehicle with a maximum of 56,000kg combination mass in excess of 12% – 13.99% | R1,500 | R750 | 5 |
| Driving 40km/h+ over the speed limit on roads with a 60km/h, 80km/h, 100km/h, or 120km/h speed restrictions. | Penalty determined by court | – | 6 – if found guilty |
| Driving under the influence of alcohol or intoxicating substance | Penalty determined by court | – | 6 – if found guilty |
Now read: Why South Africa only has one driver’s licence printing machine
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