{"id":882050,"date":"2026-10-29T15:51:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=882050"},"modified":"2026-10-29T16:38:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:38:58","slug":"new-driving-laws-for-151-municipalities-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/882050\/new-driving-laws-for-151-municipalities-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New driving laws for 151 municipalities in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has confirmed that phase 3 of the AARTO rollout is still coming, despite an apparent delay in its launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national rollout of the Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) system commenced on 1 July 2026, following a seven-month delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system was originally expected to be in 69 metros and municipalities as part of phase 2 on 1 December 2025, followed by commencement in 144 other municipalities from 1 April 2026 (phase 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system would have been fully implemented by 1 September 2026, with the driving demerit system operational nationwide (phase 4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in November 2025, the launch was pushed back and rescheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new rollout, phase 2 kicked off on 1 July 2026 in 62 municipalities (seven fewer than intended), with phase 3 expected to commence in the third quarter of the year, targeting 151 municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While no official start date for the phase 3 rollout was provided, the Q3 target suggested a September 2026 launch window, as confirmed by a parliamentary Q&A<\/strong><\/a> with the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Creecy indicated that the phase 3 rollout is still coming. However, she provided no exact timelines for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broad Q3 rollout window in the department’s annual performance plan means the next phase could launch anywhere in the next two months and still technically be on target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creecy said that all the phase 2 issuing authorities, including the metros and municipalities implementing the system from the 1 July rollout have been technically integrated into the AARTO system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“All the Phase 2 issuing authorities, including the metros and municipalities, have been capacitated to process infringement notices,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phases<\/th>Target<\/th>Original Rollout<\/th>Postponed Rollout<\/th>Status<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Phase 1<\/td>The establishment of AARTO infrastructure, including service outlets, and ensuring eNATIS could handle payments.<\/td>1 July 2021<\/td>1 July 2021<\/td>Completed<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 2<\/td>Introduction of AARTO to 62 municipalities.<\/td>1 December 2025<\/td>1 July 2026<\/td>Completed<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 3<\/td>Introduction of AARTO to 151 municipalities.<\/td>1 April 2026<\/td>Q3 (October-December 2026)<\/td>Pending<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 4<\/td>Implementation of the demerit point system and rehabilitation programme.<\/td>1 September 2026<\/td>TBA<\/td>Pending<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New driving demerit system<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A key component of the AARTO system is the new driving demerit system, which does not yet have a specific launch date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creecy said that the implementation of the points demerit system will follow in phase 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RTIA has a more vague rollout plan for the system, with plans to issue demerit notices over the medium term, starting in 2027\/28<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This implies that the system will not be launched before April 2027<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most significant change is the introduction of \u201celectronic service\u201d and the removal of the right to be tried by a competent court, as violations move from the Criminal Procedure Act to the AARTO Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the demerit system, points are allocated for traffic infringements, leading to licence suspensions or cancellations if drivers accumulate too many points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phase 3 of the AARTO rollout is on the way, with the new demerit system coming soon after.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":840908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2115805112790553023","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2253517778801954","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17953837218292613","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6539],"class_list":["post-882050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-aarto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882050","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882058,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882050\/revisions\/882058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}