The R1-billion licence secret even court battles can’t uncover

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has been in a legal showdown with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) for the better part of two years but is no closer to uncovering how the latter calculates the country’s licensing fees.

Every time South Africans apply for essential road-related services, transaction fees are charged.

The RTMC’s own records reveal that it collected nearly R1 billion from these fees in the 2023/24 financial year – R948.691 million to be exact.

However, how these fees are calculated and justified remains a mystery.

“The RTMC collects these fees in addition to those charged by provinces for the same services, yet refuses to provide clarity on the process behind them,” said Advocate Stefanie Fick, Executive Director of Outa’s Accountability Division.

“Outa has battled for more than two years to find out how the RTMC determines its transaction fees for motorists, yet the RTMC remains determined to keep this information from the public, and they are even willing to go to court to do so.”

Transparency timeline

Outa provided a clear timeline of its correspondence with the RTMC in which it sought to reveal the mystery behind the transaction fees.

In November 2022, it submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to the Corporation, asking for its internal documents detailing how the fees are calculated, and how the collected fees are distributed.

Come January 2023, the RTMC allegedly refused to provide the fee explanation, saying this was internal documentation and that it had considered Outa’s comments on the draft regulations at the time.

“On the revenue distribution, the RTMC referred Outa to its annual reports,” said Fick.

Outa subsequently submitted an internal appeal for the refused documents.

Fast forward to April of the same year, the RTMC rejected Outa’s internal appeal, forcing the organisation to escalate the matter to the Information Regulator, saying that access to the information was in the public interest.

Now in April 2024, a full year later, the Information Regulator investigated and its investigation report ruled in Outa’s favour.

“This report was then challenged by the RTMC,” said Fick.

Almost another year passes, and one 6 February 2025, the Information Regulator issued an enforcement order compelling the RTMC to release the information within 30 days.

By 20 February 2025, the RTMC had not provided the information, and instead told the Information Regulator it will challenge the enforcement order in court.

It now has 180 days from the enforcement order to file court papers.

“This is not the first time RTMC has refused to provide key documents,” said Fick.

Outa’s November 2022 PAIA request to the RTMC included a request for the its research on the extension of driver’s licence validity periods.

The RTMC initially claimed that such research existed but later admitted that the documents did not exist.

“This raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of their claims and decision-making processes,” said Fick.

“If the RTMC has a history of claiming documents exist when they do not, how can the public trust them now? The refusal to disclose transaction fee calculations follows a worrying trend of avoiding transparency and accountability.”

The RTMC is responsible for managing critical road-related services, and as a Government agency, must act in the best interests of the citizens it serves.

“The public deserves full transparency regarding the costs they are required to pay for essential services. By refusing to disclose this information, the RTMC undermines the principles of accountability and public trust,” said Fick.

“The RTMC’s strategy is to delay as much as possible, challenge us at every point, and cost us unnecessary legal fees, all to avoid accountability.”

Outa emphasised that it will continue to challenge this secrecy until truth prevails.