The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) is looking to stop Phase 2 of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act in its tracks.
Having previously taken on Gauteng’s e-tolls, the organisation has now launched an urgent High Court application to suspend the implementation of South Africa’s new traffic laws.
OUTA argued that the government brought the amended legislation into force before establishing the legal safeguards that motorists are entitled to rely on.
Its application asks the court to halt implementation until the government has complied with its own legal and constitutional obligations, and the legality of the government’s decision has been reviewed.
The organisation noted that it supports stronger road safety measures, but added that this cannot come at the expense of fairness, due process and the rule of law.
OUTA’s Executive Director for Accountability, Stefanie Fick, said that every South African benefits from safer roads and effective traffic law enforcement.
“OUTA has never opposed measures that improve road safety or hold reckless drivers accountable,” she said.
“What we cannot accept is government enforcing a new legal regime before putting the protections promised by that very system in place.”
She noted that if the government expects motorists to comply with the law, it must be prepared to meet the same standard.
For more than six years, OUTA has scrutinised AARTO, warning that implementing the amended system lawfully, fairly and practically would present significant challenges.
The organisation said that recent events have demonstrated exactly why its concerns were justified.
“Our application is not asking the court to reconsider whether AARTO is constitutional; that question has already been settled,” said Fick.
“The issue before the court is whether the government has lawfully implemented the amended system. Those are two very different questions.”
OUTA noted that the government repeatedly assured the public that it was ready to implement the legislation, yet several key safeguards remain absent.
The missing safeguards
One of the organisation’s major concerns is the absence of an independent Appeals Tribunal, which is an essential safeguard built into the amended AARTO framework.
According to OUTA, the government has activated enforcement provisions before ensuring that this independent mechanism is operational.
Fick said that when the government removes or limits existing remedies, it has a legal duty to ensure that the alternatives created by Parliament are available and functional, which has not happened.
OUTA said this creates uncertainty for motorists required to navigate the legal process without access to one of the key protections they ought to have access to.
It also argued that the 2026 AARTO Regulations were introduced without meaningful public participation.
“The regulations affect millions of motorists, municipalities, issuing authorities, fleet operators and businesses across South Africa,” OUTA said.
“Yet neither the public nor many of the institutions expected to implement the system were given a meaningful opportunity to comment before the regulations were finalised.”
Fick said meaningful public participation is not a procedural formality, and that when the government sidelines public participation, everyone loses.
“The people expected to comply with the law are often best placed to identify where it may fail in practice. Ignoring those voices weakens both public confidence and the legislation itself,” she said.
OUTA believes that the government cannot expect compliance with a new law enforcement system when questions remain concerning the institutions, procedures, and legal safeguards required.
Fick added that public confidence in any enforcement system depends not only on its objectives but also on the integrity of the process introducing it.
“South Africans deserve a road traffic enforcement system that improves road safety, protects constitutional rights and is implemented lawfully. Those goals are entirely compatible,” she said.
“Government cannot expect millions of people to place their trust in a system when some of its own legal safeguards remain absent. Compliance starts with the government complying with the law.”
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