A roadblock on the R102 in Gqeberha. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) While the Road Traffic Infringement Authority (RTIA) said this week that the Nelson Mandela Bay metro had received all it needed to implement the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, metro spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the metro was still in a “transition phase”.
Councillors were also kept in the dark. At the April Safety & Security committee meeting, it was stated that the metro wouldn’t be ready to implement Aarto until next year, but all subsequent meetings to date have been postponed.
Soyaya admitted that “in legal terms” the metro was part of the Phase 2 roll-out, but he said it was very much in a “transition period”. He did not elaborate on further questions about what this “transition phase” would mean for motorists receiving fines.
“From a legal standpoint, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is officially included in Phase 2 of the Aarto roll-out starting today, 1 July 2026, as mandated by Government Gazettes 54917 and 54918.
“Operationally, this is an administrative transition period overseen by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency. The shift from the Criminal Procedure Act to the Aarto framework will be phased to ensure that local traffic law enforcement operations run without interruption,” he said.
The South African Local Government Association (Salga) brought an urgent interdict in the Gauteng high court on Monday to stop the Phase 2 rollout in 62 municipalities based on concerns about the funding model underpinning the roll-out, saying most municipalities on the list already operated under financial stress.
Salga is expected to argue before the court that the systems needed to implement the legislation will cost municipalities more than the money generated from fines. But this interdict was dismissed, and the legal roll-out of the new system went ahead.
Democratic Alliance councillor Jason Grobbelaar said that due to the constant postponements of the Safety and Security Committee’s meetings, councillors were also in the dark about the situation.
“We last had a committee meeting in April, and then the metro was very far from being ready for the Aarto system,” he said. “At the time, the municipality claimed that the current system was not implementable,” he said, adding that there was doubt that it could be implemented over the next year.
“We don’t even know how the Safety and Security budget was spent until the end of June,” he said.
He said three aspects needed to be addressed: There had to be a budget for implementation; residents should have an understanding of how it would work; and its impact and necessary IT systems.
Provincially, the Eastern Cape Department of Transport confirmed on Wednesday that Aarto was now operational in designated parts of the province – ironically, one of these locations is in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“Motorists are urged to obey the rules of the road, as traffic infringements committed within the affected areas will now be dealt with under the Aarto system. Repeat offenders risk accumulating demerit points, which may impact the renewal of driving licences and other licensing-related transactions, and could ultimately lead to the suspension or cancellation of a driving licence,” a statement from the department read.
The department confirmed that the following provincial traffic units were implementing the Aarto system as of 1 July:
- Mthatha (including the Weighbridge)
- Komani
- Wilsonia
- Zwelitsha
- Struandale (in Nelson Mandela Bay)
- Maluti
- Maclear
- Mount Frere
- Mount Ayliff
- Aberdeen
- Graaff-Reinet
- Steynsburg
- Aliwal North
“The department calls on all motorists to drive responsibly and familiarise themselves with the Aarto system as we work together to improve road safety and compliance,” the statement concluded.
The RTIA’s Monde Mkalipi said the system was being rolled out to the 62 municipalities mentioned in the Government Gazette, and it would build on the implementation in Johannesburg and Tshwane.
He said traffic officials in Nelson Mandela Bay should have been issued with new Aarto “fine books”, and the system had to be implemented from “today” – which was 1 July 2026.
He said countrywide, most municipalities were ready, but they were still closing gaps here and there. Western Cape municipalities were given an exemption after applying for one. DM