War brewing over new driving laws in South Africa
Phase 2 of the AARTO rollout in South Africa faces a fresh legal challenge, as civil action groups seek to halt what they call a rushed process that leaves millions of drivers exposed.
Civil action group Outa has announced that it is launching an urgent bid in the High Court to stop the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO) rollout in its tracks.
The urgent application follows the publication of presidential proclamations on 29 June 2026, which brought provisions of the amended AARTO Act into operation across 62 municipalities.
The 2026 AARTO Regulations were published a day later, on 30 June.
The second phase of the AARTO rollout went live on 1 July 2026, with the new driving and traffic laws launching in 60 municipalities across the country.
This is in addition to the City of Joburg and Tshwane, where the laws have been in effect for years.
The rest of South Africa’s 151 municipalities are expected to activate the laws in the third quarter of the year (around October 2026) as part of the third phase.
According to Outa, however, the rollout has been rushed through without the necessary preparations and citizen protections in place.
“Government has implemented the amended AARTO system before key safeguards, including the independent Appeals Tribunal, are in place,” it said.
It also argues that the 2026 AARTO Regulations were introduced without meaningful public participation, despite affecting millions of motorists and businesses.
It is now approaching the High Court to suspend the implementation of Phase 2 of the rollout.
It is asking the High Court to suspend the implementation of the amended AARTO system while it reviews the legality of the government’s decision to proclaim the AARTO Amendment Act and publish the accompanying 2026 Regulations.
Although Outa said it supports stronger road safety measures and effective enforcement against dangerous and reckless drivers, it said these objectives cannot come at the expense of fairness, due process and the rule of law.
“Every South African benefits from safer roads and effective traffic law enforcement. Outa has never opposed measures that improve road safety or hold reckless drivers accountable,” said Advocate Stefanie Fick, Outa’s Executive Director for Accountability.
“What we cannot accept is the government enforcing a new legal regime before putting the protections promised by that very system in place. The government expects motorists to comply with the law. It must be prepared to meet the same standard.”
Not ready to launch
Outa noted that, although the Constitutional Court confirmed the constitutional validity of the AARTO legislation in 2023, implementing the amended system lawfully, fairly and practically presents challenges.
It stressed that the legal challenge doesn’t question the constitutionality of the laws, as that is already settled in law.
It is now testing whether the government has lawfully implemented the amended system.
“Outa argues that the government repeatedly assured the public that it was ready to implement the amended legislation—yet key safeguards remain absent,” it said.
“Important implementation questions remain unresolved, and regulations that affect millions of South Africans were introduced without meaningful public participation.”
The group pointed out that the legislation expects motorists to use the Appeals Tribunal when challenging certain administrative decisions.
However, this is not in place. This means that the government has activated the enforcement provisions before ensuring that this independent mechanism is operational.
“In simple terms, government has switched on enforcement before switching on one of the most important protections available to motorists,” Fick said.
“When government removes or limits existing remedies, it has a legal duty to ensure that the alternatives created by Parliament are available and functional. That has simply not happened.”
Through its urgent High Court application, Outa is asking the Court to:
- Suspend the implementation of Phase 2 of the amended AARTO system pending the outcome of the review application.
- Review and set aside the government’s decision to implement the amended AARTO legislation and publish the 2026 AARTO Regulations.
- Direct the government to comply with all applicable legal and constitutional requirements before any further implementation takes place.
“The government cannot expect millions of people to place their trust in a system when some of its own legal safeguards remain absent. Compliance starts with the government complying with the law,” Fick said.
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