Why South African drivers don’t need to worry about new driving rules

Months after Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced that the rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act had been delayed, it seems no closer to implementation.

The Portfolio Committee on Transport and its chairperson, Donald Selamolela, noted the minister’s decision to delay the AARTO implementation, calling it unfortunate.

He did, however, mention that the delay was understandable given the persisting issues and challenges facing national traffic law enforcement.

Minister Creecy had informed the committee of her decision, stating that the AARTO regulations would remain suspended for six months following a request from municipalities.

She said these municipalities were not ready to implement the legislation and needed more time to prepare for the first stage of rollouts.

“From the committee’s side, we make a call for all stakeholders to iron out whatever outstanding issues regarding readiness to implement, so that we can move towards full implementation,” Selamolela urged.

“We agree with the Minister granting the request, because cautious implementation is much better than haphazardness.”

He called on municipalities to be prepared to implement the act once they are in a position to do so.

“We note this request from municipalities, if we are to address the deaths that we have seen on our roads, the law should be punitive but fair,” he added.

Minister Creecy confirmed late last year that the implementation date for the act has been set for 1 July 2026, after its initial implementation stage was meant to commence on 1 December 2025.

Several delays and obstacles in the way

Leading up to the initial implementation of the act, the Department of Transport announced that the municipalities that were meant to be part of the first implementation stage were the ones not yet ready to do so.

The department also identified several issues during its assessment of said municipalities, including a delay in the finalisation of training of both law enforcement and administrative personnel.

Another issue it identified was a lack of harmonisation of the current law enforcement system used by various municipalities and funding thereof.

Following initial delays, false reports led motorists to believe that the system would go live on 5 June 2025, which the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) and the Department of Transport were forced to debunk.

Further confusion arose when the RTIA and Transport Department reported differing implementation timelines.

RTIA spokesperson Monde Mkalipi stated the act would roll out from 1 December 2025, while Deputy Transport Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa said at the Department of Transport Budget Vote that AARTO would roll out from 1 October 2025.

The confusion and continual delays have drawn several critics into the conversation, including the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).

“This delay was inevitable,” the organisation’s CEO, Wayne Duvenage, said after the minister announced the delay late last year. “Aarto was never ready, not in 2020, not in 2024, and certainly not now.”

“These repeated postponements confirm what we have warned all along: the system is unworkable in its current form.”

The organisation claimed that the act is a hastily rewritten version of the one seen in 2020, and that it was completed without public participation.

It also said the amendments published on 31 October last year include pages of illegible text about offences, fines, and demerit points.

“Citizens cannot comply with laws they cannot read. That’s not enforcement; that’s confusion,” Duvenage added.

Below is the demerit allotments for different AARTO traffic offences:

Should a motorist exceed 15 demerit points, their license will be suspended for a period of three months for every point amassed over this threshold.