South Africa’s new demerit system will be in full effect by June 2020 – here’s what will get your licence suspended

South Africa’s new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act will be in full effect from June next year (2020), says Transport minister Fikile Mbalula.

Speaking at the launch of Transport Month in Gauteng on Saturday (5 October), Mbalula said that the new system will greatly improve safety on the country’s roads and help reduce fatalities.

Signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in August, the act will introduce a new demerit system meaning all traffic fines across the country will now carry the same penal values.

However, not all infringements will carry demerit-points with roughly half of the infringements contemplated in schedule 3 of the Aarto regulations carrying no demerit points at all, according to Justice Project South Africa’s Howard Dembovsky.

“You may incur no more than 12 demerit points without your licence being suspended,” he said.

“On the 13th point, and for every point thereafter, your licence, operator card or permit issued in terms of road transport legislation will be suspended for three months for each point over 12.

“For example, if you incur 15 demerit points, the suspension period will be nine months.”

While the points and fines may change as the system prepares for a national roll-out, the tables below give an overview of how the points may be allocated as currently set out by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA):

Read: South Africa’s new demerit system spells big trouble for anyone who drives for a living