Covid-19 halts new traffic law

ERRANT DRIVERS: DEMERIT POINT SYSTEM DELAYED

Aarto Act faces harsh criticism from civil society groups.

The Covid-19 pandemic has scuppered government’s plans to begin rolling out the controversial new demerit point system for errant drivers on a national scale this month.

Last year, the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto) – and with it the new system – was signed into law.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula subsequently announced the system was expected to come into “full effect” from this month.

Yesterday, however, Mbalula’s

spokesperson, Ayanda-Allie Paine, said the roll-out date had been postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

She said no date was officially promulgated but confirmed Aarto was intended to take national effect “by mid-2020”.

“The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak has severely compromised the capacity of the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), which is the entity responsible for the roll out of Aarto, as well as other prerequisites determining the roll-out date and has resulted in a severe loss of revenue to support the preparatory activities,” Paine said.

“For this reason, RTIA is in no position at this stage, to successfully conduct the national roll out of Aarto.”

The Act envisages a new fines system and that drivers also incur demerit points for certain road traffic infringements, with their driver’s licenses being suspended once they have incurred a certain number of points. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said Aarto is geared towards an “effective and efficient link between enforcement and a transparent and fair adjudication process”.

But the Act has faced harsh criticism from civil society groups such as Justice Project South Africa, which said “its real purpose is to expedite the collection of traffic fine revenues and to impose an ominous administrative burden on those who violate traffic laws”.