to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act website.

We provide the information you need – now!

On this website, you will find all the information you need to better understand this convoluted scheme, and protect yourself from its many, administratively burdensome provisions.

While the AARTO Amendment Act, which is to apply nationally is similar to the current version which applies in Johannesburg and Tshwane, it has numerous differences, the most significant of which is the introduction of “electronic service” and removing ones right to be tried by a competent court. This is why we are forced to split the two versions, as can be seen below and in the navigation bar.

IMPORTANT FACT: Astonishingly, under the AARTO scheme, you do not have the constitutional right to be presumed innocent. If a traffic official alleges that you have committed an infringement, it is up to you to prove that you have not!

EXPECT MORE ROADBLOCKS IN THE COMING WEEKS – HERE’S WHAT THE POLICE WILL BE LOOKING FOR

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has released its Festive Season Plan for 2023/24, highlighting the routes that will get concentrated police presence through roadblocks and speed traps, as well as what traffic officers will be looking out for.

The RTMC further noted that Traffic officers will be looking out for and clamping down on drinking and driving, speeding, and unworthy vehicles.

Last year, traffic officers specifically focused on defective brakes, burst tyres, and defective lights, with the RTMC noting that “Law enforcement officers will not hesitate to discontinue and even impound vehicles with the above defects, including cracked windscreens”.

CLICK TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE OUTSTANDING FINES NOW (FREE SERVICE)

• RTMC media statement — Warning on year-end celebrations
• RTMC media statement — The RTMC Advises Motorists to Prepare Themselves
  Adequately for Festive Season Travel

Background

Originally passed into law in 1998, the AARTO Act has been in force for more than twelve years in the jurisdictions of the Metropolitan Municipalities of Tshwane (from 1 July 2008) and Johannesburg (from 1 November 2008). Surprisingly though, it is apparent that few people know much, if anything about the AARTO Act and how it affects them.

The AARTO Act differs entirely from the Criminal Procedure Act which has been and still is used to prosecute road traffic offences everywhere in South Africa except Johannesburg and Tshwane.

According to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), 51% of people surveyed at licensing centres in Gauteng in late 2017 knew nothing about the AARTO Act. This is despite the RTIA’s legislated mandate to educate motorists and the fact that the AARTO Act’s so-called “pilot” implementation is well over a decade old.

Since 13 August 2019, the AARTO Amendment Act has been in the news, with the Department and Minister of Transport, together with the RTIA telling everyone that the primary goal of the AARTO Act is to improve road safety. But even a cursory glance at it will tell you something completely different. Its real purpose is to expedite the collection of traffic fine revenues and to impose an ominous administrative burden on those who stand accused of violating traffic laws.

If you are looking for a simplified explanation on how the AARTO Amendment Act will operate nationally if/when it is implemented, please click here.

If you are looking for a simplified but practical explanation on how the currently applicable AARTO Act functions in Johannesburg and Tshwane only, please click here.

KINDLY NOTE: This website is privately owned and maintained and is not associated with the State in any way.