{"id":874134,"date":"2026-09-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=874134"},"modified":"2026-09-07T11:48:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T09:48:00","slug":"compulsory-new-laws-coming-for-vehicles-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/874134\/compulsory-new-laws-coming-for-vehicles-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Compulsory new laws coming for vehicles in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications has proposed new requirements that would raise the minimum safety standards for light passenger vehicles sold in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Bobby Ramagwede, CEO of the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Money Show<\/a>, he said the proposed new compulsory vehicle safety standards represent a major breakthrough after nearly a decade of campaigning to make cars sold in South Africa safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramagwede said the AA has been advocating for many of these changes for almost ten years through its Safer Cars for Africa campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed specifications include compulsory electronic stability control, additional airbags and stronger materials to protect vehicle occupants during a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electronic stability control helps drivers maintain control of their vehicles by preventing skidding and helping to keep all four wheels on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed regulations would also require more airbags, reflecting the fact that modern vehicles often carry more than two occupants and that side-impact collisions can be particularly deadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramagwede said the AA’s crash testing programme had also exposed major differences between vehicles sold in Africa and equivalent models available in developed markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe materials that are being used to reinforce the vehicles and protect occupants have been a lot thinner and a lot weaker than the materials that have been used in their counterpart markets like Europe, the US and Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulations would apply to both vehicles manufactured in South Africa for the local market and vehicles imported into the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications would be responsible for enforcing the requirements once they become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramagwede said manufacturers are currently able to argue that they are complying with the law because South Africa’s existing regulations set relatively low safety requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, manufacturers argue that they\u2019re not breaking any laws, which is factual because the regulations are set so low,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manufacturers and importers have already had time to prepare<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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Bobby Ramagwede, CEO of the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

However, once the proposed standards become law, manufacturers who fail to comply could face regulatory action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramagwede said the AA would continue monitoring the market and exposing cases where manufacturers attempt to circumvent the requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While safer technology could potentially increase vehicle prices, Ramagwede argued that the impact should not be significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said manufacturers have often justified lower safety specifications by claiming that they are necessary to keep prices affordable, while the AA believes cost-cutting may also be driven by profit considerations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you can make a safe car in a different territory, it shouldn\u2019t be a question. You should manufacture the same calibre of safety for every other market because no two different lives are worth different amounts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that manufacturers and importers have already had time to prepare for the regulatory changes, with many anticipating the introduction of tougher standards since at least 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the new rules will initially exclude minibus taxis, despite these vehicles being one of the most widely used forms of transport in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at light passenger vehicles, but we have started engaging government about the minibus taxi industry and how to maximise safety within that sector,\u201d Ramagwede said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramagwede said government delays, consumer price sensitivity and manufacturers prioritising profits had all contributed to South Africa falling behind international vehicle safety standards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, he described the proposed regulations as important progress towards ensuring that cars sold locally offer the same level of protection as vehicles available in other major markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that vehicle safety is only one part of reducing road deaths, with driver behaviour remaining a major cause of accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA good 60% odd of accidents caused on the road are caused by driver behaviour. It is the one variable that, if addressed, you\u2019d have far safer roads.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications has proposed new requirements for vehicles sold in South Africa.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":874140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2096901553613402333","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2198422474311485","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[3328,853],"class_list":["post-874134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-automobile-association","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874134","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=874134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874145,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874134\/revisions\/874145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}