Court ruling that declared Aarto Act invalid will be appealed, says Mbalula

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says the Department of Transport will appeal the Pretoria High Court’s ruling that declared the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) acts unconstitutional and invalid.

Releasing the festive season road safety statistics on Tuesday, Mbalula described Aarto as the “final piece of the puzzle” in paving the way for a new road traffic management system in the country.

“The importance of Aarto in driving behaviour change of motorists and providing disincentives for unbecoming conduct cannot be overemphasised.

“It is for these reasons that we have decided to appeal the ruling of the Pretoria High Court declaring the Aarto Act unconstitutional and invalid,” he said during a media briefing.

ALSO READ: Dissecting the incoming Aarto demerit system for drivers

Last week Thursday, the Pretoria High Court delivered its judgement after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) challenged the Aarto Act and Aarto Amendment Act in October last year.

Outa had asked the court to declare both acts unconstitutional, which was opposed by Mbalula and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA).

In the judgement, Judge Annali Basson ruled that both acts “must be declared to be inconsistent with the Constitution in its entirety”.

Basson also ordered the minister and the RTIA to pay the organisation’s costs, including the costs of two counsels.

Demerit system

The Department of Transport early in 2021 announced Aarto’s effective date as 1 July. However, the act was not going be introduced all at once, but rather over four phases.

The amended Aarto Act includes the much-maligned demerit system.

Motorists will have a 12-month reprieve as the online demerit system is only scheduled to go into operation as the final phase rollout on 1 July 2022.

Here are four phases to the Aarto roll-out.

• Phase 1 started on 1 July until 30 September 2021, during which seven Aaarto service outlets were established nationally, the eNATIS was permitted to collect Aarto payments, and included a communications campaign to educate motorists on Aarto.
• Phase 2 ran from 1 October to 31 December 2021 during which 67 local metropolitan authorities rolled out Aarto processing, the adjudication process and Appeals Tribunal also started functioning and 18 more Aarto service outlets was established.
• Phase 3 commenced on 1 January 2022 and will run until 30 June 2022 during which 144 municipal areas will be added to the Aarto system.
• Phase 4 which will begin 1 July 2022 and which will see the introduction of the Points Demerit System as well as the rehabilitation programme for repeat offenders which serves as the backbone of Aarto.

NOW READ: ‘Aarto rollout mired in confusion, drivers in the dark’