{"id":866034,"date":"2026-07-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=866034"},"modified":"2026-07-10T16:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:40:23","slug":"south-africans-could-soon-have-their-driving-licences-taken-away-and-forced-to-redo-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/866034\/south-africans-could-soon-have-their-driving-licences-taken-away-and-forced-to-redo-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africans could soon have their driving licences taken away and forced to redo the test"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With South Africa’s AARTO system moving closer to becoming a reality, motorists face the prospect of having their driving licences suspended or even cancelled if they repeatedly break the rules of the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Act came into effect on 1 July after being proclaimed by President Cyril Ramaphosa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the demerit points system, which will allow authorities to suspend and ultimately cancel driving licences, is still awaiting implementation and is currently expected to be introduced during the fourth phase of the AARTO rollout, scheduled for 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it takes effect, every driver will begin with zero demerit points. Traffic infringements will attract between 1 and 6 points, depending on their seriousness, with points accumulating as motorists commit offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) spokesperson Monde Mkalipi said the system is designed to hold individual drivers accountable for their own behaviour on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with HOT Business<\/a>, Mkalipi explained that points are only allocated once a motorist admits guilt for an infringement, including by paying a traffic fine to resolve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of points depends on the severity of the offence. For example, Mkalipi said a driver who runs a red light would receive 4 demerit points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The more infringements you commit on the road, the more demerit points are going to be allocated to you,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key threshold is 15 points. Once a driver exceeds that limit by reaching 16 points, their driving licence will be suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every point above the 15-point limit will result in a three-month suspension during which the motorist is prohibited from driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivers can only have their licences suspended twice. On the third occasion that they exceed the threshold, their licence will be permanently cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will force them to complete a rehabilitation programme and start the licensing process from scratch by rewriting and retaking the driving test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the third time that you go over and above the 15th demerit point, that’s when your driving licence is going to be disqualified,\u201d Mkalipi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce you have successfully gone through a driver rehabilitation programme, only then will you be allowed to restart and get a new driving licence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the centre of AARTO is road safety <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) spokesperson Monde Mkalipi<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Unlike some countries that issue drivers a set number of points for offences, South Africa’s system works in reverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RTIA also stressed that vehicle owners will not automatically receive demerit points for offences committed by someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mkalipi said owners of company vehicles or taxi fleets will be able to redirect infringement notices to the employee who was driving at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After the payment has been made, demerit points will be allocated to that person, not you as the owner,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the demerit system has not yet begun, AARTO’s reach has already expanded significantly. The latest phase now applies across all provinces except the Western Cape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung, Buffalo City, Polokwane, Mbombela, Rustenburg, Msunduzi and Sol Plaatje.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remaining municipalities are expected to join later this year as the third phase of the rollout gets underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mkalipi said the purpose of the new system is not to generate revenue but to improve road safety and change driver behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the centre of AARTO is road safety intervention. The system is designed to change the behaviour of the road users so that we get to be more compliant with traffic laws,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that reducing repeat offences should ultimately lower the number of crashes and road deaths across South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African motorists face having their driving licences suspended or even cancelled if they repeatedly break the rules of the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":866056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2075913254560297327","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[6539,23078,853],"class_list":["post-866034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-aarto","tag-road-traffic-infringement-agency-rtia","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":866064,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866034\/revisions\/866064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}