Mobility
(1) Whether the AARTO system is effective in reducing traffic violations; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether there are recorded incidents where drivers have lost their drivers licences due to cumulative demerit points against them; if so, what are the relevant details?
[1] The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act [AARTO Act 46 of 1998, “AARTO”] was promulgated in September 1998.
The implementation of the AARTO pilot project, which excluded the points demerit system, was co-ordinated by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) which is a state-owned entity of the National Department of Transport, along with the Road Traffic Management Corporation [RTMC], in the jurisdictions of the Johannesburg and Tshwane Metropolitan Municipalities from 2008 to 2010. AARTO was set to be implemented nationwide from 1 April 2012. This did not materialise due to the absence of administrative and operational readiness throughout the country, and challenges that were not adequately dealt with by the RTIA.
Various requests were made by provincial representatives at the established AARTO forum, which was set up after the pilot period phase, to table the outcome report of the pilot project to determine the feasibility and impact but to no avail. No official record exists which makes a determination of the effectiveness of the AARTO pilot in reducing traffic violations, a difficult task.
As of 13th January 2022, AARTO is subject to a Pretoria High Court ruling which found it unconstitutional and invalid. The Pretoria High Court found that AARTO intruded on the executive and legislative powers of provincial and local governments. The matter is currently the subject of various actions filed in the Constitutional Court by, inter alia, the Minister of Transport, the RTIA and the RTMC.
[2] As a result of the AARTO pilot project not including the designed demerit point system which would allow for the withdrawal/suspension of a driving licence, no such incidents have taken place.
