The Road Traffic Infringement Agency has outlined its goals for the year, which include the national rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act.
This rollout will begin in two months, with the goal of completing the system’s introduction at a national level by the end of the third quarter of the financial year – December 2026.
The rollout is expected to include two phases, with the first beginning in July 2026.
The AARTO system was originally intended to become the national traffic offences system in 2021/22; however, court challenges, systems integration issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant delays.
Following this intended launch date in 2023, the Constitutional Court gave the National Department of Transport and the RITA approval to implement the system, overturning lower court rulings about its constitutionality.
This led to the plan to first launch the system in 69 municipalities on 1 December, and to introduce it to a further 144 municipalities from 1 April 2026.
With this plan, the entire system would have been fully implemented by 1 September 2026.
This would have included the launch of the driving demerit system as well.
While this was the plan, the Transport Department later postponed the rollout in November 2025, a decision based on a readiness assessment that flagged deficiencies in municipal integration.
These include the finalisation of law enforcement and back-office personnel, the lack of harmonisation of the current law enforcement systems used by various municipalities, and issues around funding.
At the time, the rollout was delayed by six months due to these concerns, with the first phase being pushed back to July 2026.
RITA’s 2026/27 performance plan has outlined that the new rollout is broadly in line with this start date and provides a clearer timeline.
This timeline specifies that it will begin with a roll-out to 69 metropolitan and municipal Issuing Authorities (IAs) from Q2, starting on 1 July 2026.
The IAs are the entities responsible for dispensing infringement notices to road users.
In Q3, beginning on 1 October 2026, the system will then be expanded to an additional 144 IAs nationwide, and by Q4 on 1 January 2027, all 213 municipal IAs should be active.
Following this and from 2027 to 2029, the group will shift into a monitoring and enhancement period, where it will continue to observe the system’s implementation and functionality.
Demerits on the horizon
A key part of the AARTO system is the introduction of the new driving demerit system, where drivers will be allotted points for traffic infringements.
At certain point thresholds, drivers can have their licences suspended or cancelled.
This new system does not have a specific launch date in the Annual Performance Plan.
While the driving demerit system is the biggest change under the new laws, there are also a range of administrative changes that will impact drivers.
This includes the introduction of “electronic service” and the removal of the right to be tried by a competent court, as violations move from the Criminal Procedure Act to the AARTO Act.
The RITA has a more vague implementation plan for the system, with plans to issue demerit notices over the medium term, beginning in 2027/28.
However, the RITA also emphasised that the AARTO rollout isn’t immune to delays and that the timeline assumes it will have the necessary capacity, capability, and resources to coordinate and facilitate the implementation.
The system also faces capacity issues, including staff shortages and a battle against what it calls a “distorted public image”, which could affect road users’ compliance with laws and systems.
That said, if there are delays, the broader strategy has always been to roll out the system over the 2025-2030 period.
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