How fast you can drive without getting fined in South Africa

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) system has been rolled out across 62 municipalities in South Africa, introducing new rules about exceeding speed limits.

Under this new system, motorists have some leeway regarding speed limits. AARTO allows for a 10km/h tolerance before drivers are penalized for speeding.

While AARTO was first introduced all the way back in 1998 and later implemented in Johannesburg and Tshwane metros in 2008, it has only recently begun to be rolled out nationwide.

Phase 2 of the AARTO rollout officially began on 1 July 2026. A few days prior, on 29 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Department of Transport published a proclamation notice approving the new traffic laws.

The proclaimed sections relate to the core operational, administrative, and legal framework of the AARTO system, as well as the implementation of the demerit points system, which will be added at a later date.

However, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has raised concerns over the Phase 2 rollout. On 15 July 2026, it filed an urgent High Court application to suspend the rollout, arguing that certain legal safeguards in the AARTO Act were not yet implemented.

“The application asks the court to halt implementation until the government has complied with its own legal and constitutional obligations,” said the civil action group.

OUTA executive director for accountability, Advocate Stefanie Fick, noted that the new laws had been allowed to roll out without key protections for motorists.

“Every South African benefits from safer roads and effective traffic law enforcement,” Fick said, adding that OUTA could not accept the government enforcing new laws without putting protections in place.

OUTA expressed concern over the absence of the independent Appeals Tribunal, an important safeguard built into the amended AARTO framework.

“Government has switched on enforcement before switching on one of the most important protections available to motorists,” Fick said.

“When government removes or limits existing remedies, it has a legal duty to ensure that the alternatives created by Parliament are available and functional. That has simply not happened.”

How fast you can drive before receiving a fine

Until there is legal clarity on the AARTO expansion, motorists will need to familiarize themselves with the new traffic laws.

This includes a “tolerance” for speeding, allowing drivers to exceed the prescribed limit by 10km/h without incurring a fine.

This tolerance bracket is intended to account for differences in speedometer calibration. Importantly, the tolerance does not apply to average speed over distance (ASOD) systems.

AARTO divides speed infringements into 4km/h brackets, with fine and demerit point penalties that scale with the severity of the offence.

Phase 4 of AARTO will introduce the demerit point system after the administrative and operational aspects of the system have been implemented nationwide.

Under this system, motorists will continue to receive fines for speeding infringements; however, they will also incur penalty points based on the speed they were travelling and the type of road they were using.

Under AARTO, a motorist caught travelling 11km/h to 15km/h over the speed limit in an urban zone with a 60km/h limit will land a R250 fine.

Once the demerit system goes live, drivers will only receive a point on their licence if they exceed the speed limit by more than 15km/h.

Travelling 36km/h to 40km/h over the limit in a 60km/h urban area will incur a R1,500 fine and 5 demerit points. Rural areas and highways have a higher limit of 100km/h and 120km/h, respectively.

The following table summarises the fines and demerit points for exceeding the speed limits by different amounts across the three main road types: