Call for new compulsory roadworthiness tests in South Africa

The Automobile Association (AA) believes that the government should introduce a mandatory annual roadworthiness check for all private passenger vehicles in South Africa.

One of the largest road safety concerns in South Africa is that the majority of vehicles on our roads are in poor condition, with issues like defective headlights and brakes that increase the risk of an accident.

The Vehicle Testing Association (VTA) argues that the country’s road safety campaigns need to look beyond driver behaviour, and that more needs to be done to address unroadworthy cars.

“Road safety cannot rely solely on driver behaviour interventions. Vehicle fitness must form part of the solution,” said the VTA’s National Director, Julian Pillay.

In a previous comment on the 2025/2026 holiday road fatality statistics, the VTA highlighted that passenger cars fall outside of South Africa’s periodic roadworthiness testing regime.

“Smaller vehicles represent the majority of vehicles on our roads, yet they are not subject to regular or periodic roadworthiness testing,” said Pillay.

“Mechanical failures caused by worn tyres, faulty brakes, suspension defects or lighting issues can turn an otherwise avoidable incident into a fatal one.”

The Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) also advocates for the introduction of regular vehicle roadworthiness tests.

It noted that this aligns with international best practices as a complementary road safety intervention which supports existing enforcement and education efforts, but does not look to replace them.

The RMI highlighted that private vehicles in South Africa are only tested for roadworthiness upon change of ownership.

“The consequence of this is that of the current vehicle population of approximately 13 million in South Africa, the biggest category is that of private motor cars and station wagons, which make up the majority of the vehicle population, and yet do not have to undergo any regular regime of testing,” it said.

“This means that only approximately 20% of the total current vehicle population is required to be tested.”

The government published an amendment to the National Road Traffic Act (Regulation 138) back in 2014, which stated that vehicles older than 10 years should be subjected to a roadworthiness test every two years.

However, this has yet to be implemented more than 10 years later. TopAuto emailed the Department of Transport to ask if it plans to introduce regular, mandatory vehicle roadworthiness for private cars, but we did not receive a response.

Automobile Association supports annual roadworthiness tests

The CEO of the AA, Bobby Ramagwede, supports the idea of annual roadworthiness tests for private vehicles, noting that commercial vehicles are already required to undergo this process.

He said that the AA has been calling for this change for years, arguing that unroadworthy cars are one of the biggest contributors to road accidents in South Africa.

The CEO explained that the AA views roadworthiness, or road safety, under three principal pillars.

“How fit is the infrastructure that is being used, and how fit for purpose is the kit that is being used, i.e. the cars, the vehicles? And lastly, how appropriate is the behaviour of the road user?” Ramagwede told TopAuto.

He noted that road user behaviour is probably the most important aspect, but also the most difficult to manage, manipulate, and caress in the right direction.

“Coming back to the fitness of the kit on the roads, [roadworthiness tests] are something that the AA definitely supports and has been calling for many years.”

“It surprises me that we are leaps and bounds behind established economies like the UK, the Middle East, as far as ensuring that the vehicles we have on our roads are assessed on a more periodic basis, in this case, on an annual basis to ensure that they are indeed fit for purpose.”

Ramagwede said he would take things a step further, arguing that roadworthiness concerns the vehicle’s basic systems, such as the braking and transmission systems. He said that fitness tests should also ensure that the vehicle is mechanically sound.

“There is a case to be argued that many an accident is also caused due to the mechanical failures of the vehicle as opposed to just a lack of roadworthiness.”

Commenting on the industry push for mandatory roadworthiness tests for private cars, Ramagwede said the AA supports and encourages it, though he acknowledged that some consumers may have concerns about the costs involved.

“We appreciate that the consumer would initially have some degree of backlash arguing affordability, but how much does a life cost?”

“Would we rather not have safer vehicles on our roads than argue or push back a potential R400 increase in annual spend? Because that’s really what it amounts to.”