South Africa’s new traffic fine system ready to roll out

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act is expected to roll out across South Africa in a matter of weeks.

Aarto has been tested in Johannesburg and Tshwane, two of South Africa’s 257 municipalities, and is ready to be rolled out to the rest.

Aarto is meant to further disincentivise illegal driving behaviour through a demerit system that can ultimately result in a suspended licence.

It is also meant to encourage road users to pay their fines as soon as possible by providing up to a 50% discount if they do so on time.

In an interview on Kaya 959, SA Fines CEO Barry Berman said Aarto is expected to roll out to the rest of the country from 1 July 2024.

Alderman JP Smith, a member of Cape Town’s mayoral committee for safety and security, said in an interview in 2023 that the City would be ready to implement the new system when told to do so.

However, the metro is rolling out the system under protest.

Cape Town resisted Aarto’s rollout due to “all the problems it came packaged with,” Smith said.

Smith said Aarto would siphon off a portion of the City’s revenue.

“That goes to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), which I don’t think is helpful, but that’s as it is.”

He said Cape Town would’ve preferred to enforce its own traffic bylaws over the Aarto system.

Aarto faced several legal challenges, but Chief Justice Raymond Zondo ruled in July last year that the Act is valid and lawful and will not be scrapped.

Under Aarto, all licences will start with 0 demerit points.

Demerit points are then accumulated once a fine is paid, an enforcement order is issued, or a person charged with a criminal traffic offence is convicted.

Licensed drivers need 15 points for a suspension, while learner drivers only need six.

During a suspension, you cannot apply for a driving licence, professional driving permit, motor vehicle licence disc, operator card or any other permit.

The most demerits a driver can accumulate through a single offence is six when the offence is deemed criminal.

Such offences include not being licensed to drive the class of vehicle or driving under the influence of alcohol.

Learner drivers will gain five demerits for driving without a fully licensed driver, bringing them very close to their suspension threshold.

For every three months that pass, one demerit point will automatically expire, so you will scratch four points from your name in a year if you don’t commit additional violations.

However, these demerits do not substitute for a fine, as guilty drivers will still be charged for their wrongdoing.

For example, as shown in the table below, someone operating a vehicle on a public road with an expired licence will receive three demerits and a R2,000 fine.

The Aarto system also incentivises drivers to pay these fines on time by receiving a discount of up to 50%, depending on how early they pay them.

The table below summarises some of the 2,000 possible infringements/offences under Aarto, ranked from those with the highest demerit points to the lowest.