Traffic bill comes under public fire
THE amended traffic bill, focusing on the driver demerit system, has been labelled ‘irrational’ and has been heavily criticised for focusing on revenue collection rather than road safety.
These are the concerns of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) on the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Bill recently accepted by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport.
The Bill is set to go to the National Assembly for concurrence before being signed into law by President Ramaphosa.
OUTA, together with several stakeholders in the transport industry, including taxi operators, has opposed the Bill since 2015.
According to the organisation, OUTA submitted comprehensive comments to the parliamentary committee, but some key criticisms were not factored into the amended version.
The public and transport stakeholders have cited parts of the Bill as unconstitutional.
‘It will be interesting to see if the president will sign the Bill into law before the elections on 8 May as it may sway votes,’ said OUTA’s Transport Portfolio Manager, Rudie Heyneke.
One of the biggest amendments in the Bill is the driver demerit system which has come under fire from the transport and fleet industries.