Biggest change to traffic fines in South Africa in 49 years
If all goes according to plan, South Africa will begin the national rollout of a new dispensation in about two weeks that will fundamentally change the country’s decades-old traffic fine system.
Outside of two municipalities in Gauteng, traffic fines in South Africa have been handled in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) since 1977.
Under these laws, drivers get issued with a Section 56 notice when stopped in person or a Section 341 notice for non-present offences, like unmanned speeding camera tickets.
In both cases, offences are considered criminal with an associated financial penalty or, in extreme cases, imprisonment.
Paying a fine is considered to be an admission of guilt. If a motorist wishes to dispute an offence, they can challenge it in court.
In general, only extremely excessive speeding, reckless driving, or repeated offence notices that go unacknowledged can result in an arrest.
Drivers convicted of serious offences will have these added to their criminal records, which can limit their access to jobs and many other services.
The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act, first introduced 28 years ago, aims to move less serious traffic violations from a criminal to an administrative framework.
The AARTO Act divides road law violations into two categories — infringements and offences. Offences are for more serious violations, such as extremely excessive speeding or driving without a licence.
In these cases, violations will still be handled in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act. Therefore, the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” still applies.
The big change will be in the handling of less serious violations, such as failing to stop at a traffic light or a stop sign.
After the implementation of AARTO, infringements will not be subject to the CPA but to an administrative process overseen by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency.
Driving licence demerit points
The full implementation of AARTO will also introduce a driving licence point demerit system similar to those applied in the United Kingdom.
In addition to fines, certain infringements and offences will accrue points. If a driver accumulates more than 15 points, their licence will be suspended for three months for each point above that.
The latest timeline for the phased rollout of AARTO will see the system initially going live in 69 more municipalities from 1 July.
In the second phase, AARTO will be expanded to another 144 municipalities. The licence point demerit system’s go-live date is set for a few months thereafter.
The AARTO system has been in pilot with the licence points demerit system in Tshwane since July 2008 and in Johannesburg since November 2008.
It was originally scheduled to roll out in November 2010, but severe administrative shortcomings and legislative delays delayed implementation for nearly 16 years.
Even after a legal challenge by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2023, the transport department failed to roll out the new system.
Significant concerns over AARTO feasibility and impact
While OUTA accepted the court’s decision, it has continued to warn that the legislation will place a heavy administrative burden on individuals, businesses, and fleet operators.
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage recently also warned that AARTO had “all the hallmarks of a potentially corrupt, deliberate money-making scheme.”
“It is nothing short of a public-private partnership that involves revenue sharing of funds intended for the state,” Duvenage said.
Duvenage was specifically speaking in light of the RTIA issuing a tender for a private service provider to support some of the core functions of AARTO.
Duvenage believes there is potential for system manipulation where private companies stand to benefit from artificially induced inefficiencies.
“The RTIA makes little money if infringers pay on time, and a lot more when the public misses the fine payment deadlines and must pay a higher penalty,” Duvenage explained.
OUTA previously also said the latest version of the AARTO regulations was rushed without public participation.
OUTA said the last postponement of AARTO’s national rollout in November 2025 should be used to get the legislation right.
“If government is serious about road safety, it must return to the drawing board — build a transparent, practical system that supports enforcement, earns public trust, and genuinely saves lives.”
No further revisions were made to AARTO since the postponement, meaning OUTA’s concerns remain unaddressed.
Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield-Jones has also warned that the latest version of AARTO was highly susceptible to legal challenges.
“The finalised regulations are a cluttered mess, which could have considerable vulnerability in any court challenge on their merits, let alone the lack of consultation apparent in their finalisation,” he said.
Handfield-Jones said the core principles of the Act, which were intended to improve road safety and reduce road fatalities, had been wrecked with legislative tinkering.
“At this point, they may as well scrap it and just rework the current enforcement system to include proper document service and demerit points, like what is done in the UK.”
The charts below from OUTA show the complicated procedures involved in the administrative and criminal processes for fines under AARTO.
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