R1,000 fine warning for everyone with a driver’s licence in South Africa

Motorists are likely to face fines and other issues as South Africa gets to grips with the newly implemented Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act.

This was recently highlighted in an incident in Johannesburg where a motorist faced arrest for forgetting his driver’s licence card at home.

This is not actually an arrestable offence under the AARTO Act; however, this is what the motorist was told when he was pulled over by traffic police.

Speaking to HOT Business, the motorist recalled the incident, where he was stopped by traffic officers on motorcycles after making a turn at a traffic light.

The officers accused him of driving through a red light. To avoid an argument, the motorist accepted the officer’s statement. He explained that he didn’t want to escalate the situation since he was already late for a meeting.

When asked to present his driver’s licence, the motorist found he had misplaced the card, which wasn’t in his wallet. He presented his ID card instead.

He told the officer that his licence was valid and suggested that the officers could verify it electronically.

However, the police then told him that, under AARTO, not having a valid driver’s licence on his person was an offence punishable by immediate arrest.

“Are you aware that due to the new AARTO rules, when I stop you, and you don’t have your licence on you, it is an offence,” the motorist said, quoting the officer.

The officer allegedly pulled out a charge book and explained that AARTO differentiates infringements and offences, and that the latter requires drivers to be arrested and taken to a police station.

The motorist questioned whether this was correct, to which the officer replied that this was how AARTO had been explained to them during their training on the new laws.

The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) has since clarified that this incident was unlawful and illustrates some of the confusion surrounding the new distinction between traffic offences and infringements.

However, the RTIA warned that while leaving your licence at home is not an arrestable offence, it is still an infringement carrying a R1,000 fine.

Confusion over South Africa’s new traffic laws

In the same interview, RTIA spokesperson Monde Mkalipi stated that road users are legally required to carry their driver’s licence whenever they operate a vehicle.

“In terms of Schedule 3 of the AARTO regulations, if a motorist operated a motor vehicle whilst he or she did not keep a driving licence in the vehicle, that is an infringement,” he said.

The penalty for this infringement is a R1,000 fine, though it is important to note that failing to carry a licence and driving without having been issued a licence are two different matters, wrote BusinessTech.

In the case where the motorist was pulled over, the officers were meant to verify his story and check if he had a valid driver’s licence.

Mkalipi said that the motorist forgetting his licence should have received a fine, but that this was not an arrestable offence, acknowledging that the officer likely misinterpreted the new laws.

In contrast, if police find that a driver operating a vehicle has not been issued a valid licence, they should be arrested on the spot.

Mkalipi stated that the RTIA plans to launch a public education campaign and that it will introduce additional training for law enforcement.

“The regulations are still undergoing a review so that they are not open to misinterpretation and they are also not open to abuse by anyone who is supposed to enforce them on the roads,” he said.

He cautioned that similar incidents involving AARTO misunderstandings are likely as the new laws are rolled out nationwide.