{"id":614556,"date":"2025-10-20T09:02:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=614556"},"modified":"2025-10-20T09:03:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:03:59","slug":"criminal-defence-attorney-warns-south-africans-about-paying-traffic-fines-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/614556-criminal-defence-attorney-warns-south-africans-about-paying-traffic-fines-online.html","title":{"rendered":"Criminal defence attorney warns South Africans about paying traffic fines online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Criminal defence attorney William Booth has warned that paying traffic fines through third-party online platforms is risky, as these platforms can provide incorrect or bogus information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to Cape Talk<\/a>, Booth said the primary danger of using these platforms is the reliability and legitimacy of the data they provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, fraudsters are impersonating legitimate online platforms that offer these services to scam victims out of their money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think the problem these days is we all get notifications from all kinds of sources, and most of them are actually bogus,” said Booth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The problem with all these fine sites is that they may or may not be bogus, and they may or may not be correct.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that, while one of these sites could claim that you have multiple outstanding fines, the person who posted that information may have made a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Then it turns out that you don’t have the fines, and whoever posted it there got it wrong,” said Booth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is problematic, as Booth notes that these platforms encourage motorists to pay their fines as quickly as possible because they likely receive a commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They send notifications to motorists requesting payment when the information they have may be incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They may even add up a higher fine than what you are actually supposed to be paying. The message is to be careful about this because it might not be correct, and you end up paying money you don’t have to,” said Booth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He advised motorists to verify that such platforms are legitimate and that the information they provide is accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s important to note that a number of scams surrounding motoring fines are doing the rounds in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2025, PayCity issued a warning about phishing scams targeting motorists with fake traffic fine notifications that impersonate its platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have been made aware of several phishing scams where fraudsters send fake traffic fine notification messages pretending to impersonate PayCity,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These messages may include fraudulent payment links from domains that are not associated with PayCity.” It warned that, if a payment link doesn’t point to the paycity.co.za domain, it is not safe to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Important information about new traffic fine rules in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For several months, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) has posted social media explainers about how traffic infringements will work<\/a> under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase one of the new traffic enforcement law’s rollout will begin with 69 municipalities from 1 December 2025, followed by the remaining 144 municipalities from 1 April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aarto demerit point system will launch on 1 September 2026. Under this system, motorists will accumulate penalty points on their licences for traffic infringements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repeat infringers will have their licence suspended when their demerit points reach 15. Their licences will be suspended for nine months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the suspension, motorists cannot drive any car. Doing so will be treated as a criminal offence. Moreover, licences can only be suspended twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a motorist exceeds the points threshold a third time, their licence will be cancelled. Once the suspension period lapses, they must redo their learner’s and driving licences to be licensed to drive again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motorists who commit traffic offences such as speeding or parking violations will receive an Aarto infringement notice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be provided on-site by a traffic officer or delivered via registered mail or electronic communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When you receive an infringement notice, you have 32 days to respond,” the RTIA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding includes paying the infringement notice or submitting a representation if a motorist believes there is valid evidence to cancel the infringement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you believe there is a valid reason for your Aarto infringements to be cancelled, do not hesitate to submit a representation,” the RTIA says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’ll be reviewed by an independent officer, so there’s hope for a positive outcome!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding fine amounts, motorists who pay within 32 days will receive a 50% discount. Those who don’t pay within the timeframe will receive a courtesy letter, adding R60 to the amount owing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon issuance of a courtesy letter, infringers have 32 additional days to respond before an enforcement order is issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While an enforcement order remains in force, an infringer is prohibited from renewing his or her driving licence, driving permit, or licence disk, until the enforcement order has been complied with,” the RTIA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The purpose of an enforcement order is for the law to take its course where an infringer has not complied with either an infringement notice or, subsequently, a courtesy letter.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authorisation of an enforcement order will mean that another R60 is added to the amount the motorist owes. They will also be blocked from using the eNatis platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Criminal defence attorney William Booth warns that traffic fine information provided on online platforms may be incorrect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":467311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[19172,38461,18388,89370],"class_list":["post-614556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-administrative-adjudication-of-road-traffic-offences-aarto","tag-speeding-fines","tag-traffic-fines","tag-william-booth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614556"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614556"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":614709,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614556\/revisions\/614709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}