The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is now ready to roll-out the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act 46 of 1998 (AARTO) Act and the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Amendment Act 4 of 2019, after the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) confirmed the legality and validity of the two Acts on 12 July 2023.
The ruling effectively gave the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) the mandate to continue with the implementation of the AARTO Act. “All uncertainties about the AARTO Act and its Amendment Act of 2019 have finally been settled, after it was challenged and declared unconstitutional by the North Gauteng High Court in January 2022. We can now confidently proceed with its implementation to enhance the safety of our road users,” says Mr Matsemela Moloi, the CEO and Registrar of the RTIA.
The RTIA is satisfied with the affirmation by the highest court in the land that the AARTO Act falls within the ambit of “road traffic regulation”, and that Parliament has the power to pass this legislation.
Furthermore, the RTIA is also pleased with the ConCourt’s decision to dismiss OUTA’s contention that the AARTO usurped certain powers and functions of municipalities and gave them to national organs of state.
“We are pleased with the final decision made by the apex court in the land. As the RTIA, we will revisit and review existing plans and make the necessary adjustments in implementation timelines, and prepare for the phased national roll-out. We have always believed that South Africa needed a piece of legislation that would effectively enforce compliance with all road traffic regulations whilst also enhancing the safety of road users in general, and the AARTO Act will achieve exactly that”, says Mr Moloi.
The RTIA will continue to constructively engage with all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of how the AARTO Act and its Amendment will work. The RTIA will also continue educating road users about the benefits of AARTO, and the implications for those who do not comply.
One of the benefits of the AARTO Act and its Amendment is the removal of the burden of adjudicating road traffic offences from our courts and placing it within one central agency. Furthermore, the AARTO Act and its Amendment will also create a Points Demerit System designed to ensure that serial traffic offenders are removed from South Africa’s roads.
The current reality is that South Africa’s road crashes and fatalities are unacceptably high, hence the need for a very effective legal instrument that will enforce compliance and improve road safety. It will help the government to achieve its critical objective of reducing road crashes and fatalities and ensure that habitual infringers face appropriate consequences for their actions.
“We have too many road crashes in South Africa, costing the economy billions of rands annually. This piece of legislation will enable us to protect law-abiding road users from serial and dangerous offenders”, says Mr Moloi.