When you’ll start getting penalty points on your driving licence in South Africa

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act will be rolled out nationwide from 1 December, 2025.

However, the driving licence demerit point system associated with the act will only be implemented on 1 September 2026.

President Cyril Ramaphosa formally declared the launch date of the nation’s controversial new traffic enforcement law, which was published in the Government Gazette on Friday, 1 August 2025.

Aarto will be introduced in two main phases, starting with 69 of the country’s largest municipalities at the end of this year.

The next stage will add another 144 municipalities from 1 April 2026.

The president’s confirmation follows a series of conflicting reports in July that provided different dates for the act’s implementation.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa previously stated in his Budget Vote speech that Aarto will be rolled out across 69 municipalities from 1 October 2025.

Not long after, officials in the Department of Transport (DoT) and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) stated that the Act would take effect from 1 December in two phases.

Phase one would affect 69 major municipalities, while phase two would start on 1 February 2026 and affect an additional 144 municipalities.

Both of these reports were flawed, and the correct timeline for the rollout of the Aarto Act is the one outlined in the Government Gazette.

• Aarto implementation date (69 major municipalities) – 1 December 2025
• Additional 144 municipalities added – 1 April 2026
• Driver’s licence demerit system – 1 September 2026

The Aarto Act’s implementation follows a lengthy court battle, which ended in July 2023 when it was declared that the Aarto Act and Aarto Amendment Act were constitutional and valid.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) had previously won a victory in the High Court where it ruled that Aarto was un constitutional.

Outa then approached the Constitutional Court to seek confirmation, but this resulted in the High Court’s decision being overturned.

The system was initially scheduled to launch on 1 July 2020, but this was pushed back to 1 July 2024 following the legal dispute.

However, the government missed this deadline.

The National Automobile Dealer’s Association (Nada) later revealed that the RTIA and DoT had revised their plan to launch Aarto in July this year.

This failed to happen, meaning the government missed another deadline.

Outa argues that, even though Aarto has been declared lawful, it still presents a significant administrative burden on motorists and is impractical to implement.

While infringers could technically still take their dispute to court, several additional administrative processes will now need to be followed before this can happen.

Municipalities have also voiced their disapproval of Aarto, which would result in a loss of revenue as the new system would ensure that 50% of traffic fine income would now go to the RTIA.

Driver’s licence penalty points system

Aarto will introduce a new demerit system where motorists will accumulate points on their licence for committing various traffic offences.

Once the system goes live, drivers will start with zero points on their licence, and will receive points when they pay the fines for infringements.

An individual can receive up to 15 points on their licence before it is suspended.

The suspension period is calculated at a rate of three months for every point over the 15-point threshold.

This means that anyone who goes four points over the limit will have their licence suspended for a year.

During this time, the person cannot drive any car, and doing so will be treated as a criminal offence.

Importantly, a licence can only be suspended twice, as exceeding the limit for a third time will see their card cancelled entirely.

At this point, the motorists will be forced to retake their learner’s and driver’s exams to earn a new licence card.

The DoT plans to offer a “driver rehabilitation programme” for frequent infringers whose licences were cancelled.

Persons who complete the programme will have their ban periods reduced.

While this system may sound draconian to some, the demerit points are only valid for three months from the time they are applied.

This means a person would have to commit several minor offences in a relatively short period for their licence to be suspended.

More severe actions, such as drunk driving, receive a harsher point penalty, in addition to the other legal penalties the person would already receive.

The table below shows the fine and demerit amounts that will be distributed for common traffic offences in South Africa: