Aarto is still in force, says road agency, as it joins minister’s challenge on court ruling

The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) says the provisions of the Administrative Adjudication of the Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act are still enforceable, until the Pretoria high court ruling is confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

The agency said it is joining transport minister Fikile Mbalula in appealing against the high court judgment.

“Aarto implementation continues until the judgment on the constitutionality of the Aarto Act has been subjected to all due legal review processes,” said the RTIA.

The Constitutional Court is scheduled to either uphold or overturn the high court ruling on February 3.

The Aarto Act and its amendment were found to be unconstitutional. In her ruling, judge Annali Basson said the dispute was not over the legislation itself but “whether parliament [national government] had the legislative competence to legislate on matters relating to provincial roads or traffic or in relation to parking and municipal roads at local level”.

She ruled that the act unlawfully intrudes on the exclusive executive and legislative competence of local and provincial governments.

The Aarto Act was established as a single national system of road traffic regulation to hold motorists to account for traffic violations. It has been operating in Johannesburg and Tshwane as a pilot project since July 2007 and was intended to be rolled out to the rest of the country, culminating in a points demerit system, which would leave repeat offenders eventually stripped of their driving licences.

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