Speed cameras out of action in major South African city

The City of Johannesburg has lost access to all of its speed cameras, allowing motorists to speed unchecked while the metro loses out on a significant revenue stream.

This is according to a report by Moneyweb, which claims that the metro’s contract with its speed camera provider, Syntell, recently expired and that a replacement has yet to be appointed.

Three independent sources confirmed that the city’s contract with Syntell, which provided the cameras and the back-office system to process fines, lapsed on 23 December 2025.

As a result, Syntell ended its service and took its cameras along with it. The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) does not have any speed cameras of its own.

Syntell also used to upload other types of traffic fines, including fines issued from by-law enforcement.

The JMPD has yet to issue an official statement on the subject.

While handwritten fines are still being issued, they account for a fraction of all the fines recorded in the metro.

During the previous financial year, 3.1 million of the 3.4 million traffic fines issued were based on speed camera images, according to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency.

The loss of its speed cameras therefore comes as a considerable blow to the city’s coffers, as traffic fines generate approximately R50 million in revenue per annum.

The city’s inability to find a replacement before the contract with Syndell expired has been labelled as “blatant incompetence” by Solomon Maila, the DA’s shadow member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for public safety.

He said the MMC for public safety, Dr Mgcini Tshwaku of the EFF, should have started the process to appoint a replacement long before the contract lapsed.

Big changes for speeding fines in South Africa

The manner in which speeding fines are issued and dealt with is set to be overhauled later this year once the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto) is implemented.

Aarto has been in the works for years and has only been partially implemented in the Joburg and Tshwane metros, but it is now scheduled to go live nationwide starting on 1 July 2026.

The previous launch date was planned for 1 December 2025, but this was pushed back after reports that several municipalities weren’t ready to implement the changes.

Right now, there is no standardized system for speeding fines in South Africa, which are treated as an offence under the Criminal Procedure Act and are handled by the municipalities that issued them.

Under the new nationwide Aarto system, traffic violations will be split into two categories: minor cases will be treated as “infringements,” while more severe cases will be listed as “offences.”

Infringements will be handled administratively via the Road Traffic Infringement Agency.

Offences, on the other hand, will go through the legal system.

This also ties into the new demerit point system, where motorists will receive points on their licence for various driving violations.

More severe actions will earn more points, and a person’s licence will be suspended once they accumulate 15 points.

These are the fine amounts and demerit points that will be applied for various speeding violations in different areas: