New driving laws for South Africa delayed
The national rollout of the new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) system has been delayed.
The system was initially set to launch in 69 metros and municipalities from 1 December 2025, but this has been pushed back to July 2026.
The Department of Transport announced the delay following an assessment of the state of readiness in some of the municipalities that were to form part of the first implementation phase.
Among the deficiencies the department identified were the finalisation of the law enforcement and back office personnel, as well as the lack of harmonisation of the current law enforcement systems used by various municipalities and the funding.
“The Department will soon publish the new proclamation with new staggered implementation dates, the 1 July 2026 being the official implementation date,” it said.
“The phased approach of implementation will still be maintained as initially envisaged.”
The original plan was to launch the AARTO system in 69 metros and municipalities on 1 December, followed by commencement in 144 other municipalities from 1 April 2026.
The full system would have been implemented by 1 September 2026, when the driving demerit system would be in operation nationwide.
If the timeline for the phased rollout remains the same, the full implementation of Aarto with the demerit points system will now only occur around mid-2027.
There has been strong pushback against the AARTO system, with industry stakeholders and civil action groups like OUTA calling it unworkable.
Most recently, the Western Cape government had been pushing to exempt itself from the system.
While the driving demerit system is the biggest systemic change under the new laws, there are also a host of administrative changes taking place that will shake things up for drivers.
The most significant change is the introduction of “electronic service” and the removal of the right to be tried by a competent court as violations move from the Criminal Procedures Act to the AARTO Act.
With the demerit system, this will allocate demerit points for traffic infringements, leading to licence suspensions or cancellations if drivers accumulate too many points.
The entire AARTO system has been criticised as one that focuses on revenue generation rather than addressing traffic concerns, with various administrative fees thrown in at multiple steps in the process.
Critics also argue that the AARTO system operates on the principle of guilty until proven innocent, as the burden is often on motorists to actively respond to notices.
Otherwise, an enforcement order will be issued, and demerit points will be allocated.
The system has also received pushback from the public service sector, with unions like the PSA claiming that its implementation will not curb accidents and will instead lead to chronic maladministration, fraud, unemployment and crime.
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