AARTO

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

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.

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES LAUNCH DATES FOR SA’S NEW TRAFFIC FINES SYSTEM IN 213 MUNICIPALITIES

The Department of Transport on Friday 1 August gazetted new commencement dates for the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AATRO), including a launch for the driving demerit system.

The announcement was made in the national government gazette, whereby different sections of the Act will come into effect between December 2025 and September 2026.

The AARTO system has been operating in metros like Johannesburg and Tshwane for years, but the government has long-held plans to roll the system out nationally.

The rollout has been beset with delays even though the system got the go-ahead from South Africa’s apex court after legal challenges on Constitutional grounds. The ConCourt ruled that the new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act system for handling traffic infringements, incorporating a demerit system for reckless drivers was in fact valid and constitutional.

The latest gazette brings final clarity to the matter, with 1 December and 1 April being the commencement of sections related to the rollout.

AARTO DEMERIT SYSTEM TO LAUNCH 1 SEPTEMBER – READY OR NOT

The phased national rollout of the Aarto Act has finally been gazetted.

This follows the publication of three notices related to the phased national rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act in the Government Gazette on Friday 1 August.

Aarto has for several years been operational only in the municipalities of Johannesburg and Tshwane as part of a pilot project to test the system’s operation.

The first phase of the national rollout of Aarto commenced from 1 July 2021. The second phase, the national rollout, officially starts on 1 December 2025 and includes Aarto’s introduction in 69 municipalities. The third phase involves introducing Aarto to the remaining 144 municipalities on 1 April 2026.

Expect a bumpy ride

The Department of Transport (DoT) initially planned to have Aarto fully implemented by July 2024. There still appear to be issues that might delay its national rollout, as anticipated in the Government Gazette notices … [read more]

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!

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, 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.

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