Outa wants high court to put the brakes on new traffic system

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) is heading to court on Tuesday, 4 August, with an urgent application to stop the roll-out of phase two of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) system, arguing that no structures are in place that would enable motorists to appeal against an infringement notice.

This matters because motorists ignoring fines can be locked out of the Electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis), making it impossible for them to renew their vehicle and driver’s licences.

According to Aarto’s own legislation, motorists do not have access to court to dispute an infringement notice until their case has been heard by the Appeals Tribunal.

Outa’s executive director for accountability, advocate Stefanie Fick, said in papers before the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria that the system was put in place before the establishment of appeals tribunals where motorists could dispute an infringement notice.

Fick also pointed out that the tribunal was required by law to develop rules for the hearing of appeals, and to publish them. This has also not been done. She argues that because of these glaring shortcomings, President Cyril Ramaphosa acted unlawfully and irrationally in bringing in the new Aarto scheme.

The spokesperson for the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), Monde Mkalipi, said it would be opposing the application. He insisted that the tribunal was functional and said members of the public who were appointed to the body had been taken through an induction process.

The law makes provision for a motorist to appeal against a decision by the Appeals Tribunal at a magistrate’s court, but Outa is arguing that there is no Appeals Tribunal in place. According to Aarto regulations, this tribunal will consist of a chairperson and another eight members who will be nominated by the public.

The government published invitations for nominations to serve on the tribunal in 2021 and 2024. No appointments have been publicly announced to date.

Mkalipi said that since 1 July, when most of the 62 municipalities listed in the Government Gazette started implementing the system, 68,753 infringement notices had been issued under the new system. Although they are on the list in the Government Gazette, some of the big municipalities, like the Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay, have admitted that they are noncompliant for logistical reasons. The system is, however, already in place in two Gauteng metros, Tshwane and Johannesburg.

The Aarto system removes traffic infringements from the country’s courts. Instead, infringements are now handled by a central agency. However, government regulations stipulate that there needs to be an Appeals Tribunal, which has not yet been established.

Irreversible damage

Fick argues in her affidavit before court that the harm that would be caused by the absence of an Appeals Tribunal cannot be reversed.

“Confusion will arise regarding rights and remedies. Invalid or challengeable administrative action may proliferate. Persons may be induced to pay penalties rather than ­contest them because the remedial path is unavailable.

“Municipal and administrative measures may embed an unlawful process before review relief can be finalised,” she said.

Outa said in a statement that it supported “stronger road safety measures and effective enforcement against dangerous and reckless drivers”, but added that these objectives “cannot come at the expense of fairness, due process and the rule of law”.

“Outa has never opposed measures that improve road safety or hold reckless drivers accountable,” Fick said. “What we cannot accept is the government enforcing a new legal regime before putting the protections promised by that very system in place. The government expects motorists to comply with the law. It must be prepared to meet the same standard.”

The urgent application follows the publication of presidential proclamations on 29 June that brought provisions of the amended Aarto Act into operation in 62 municipalities from 1 July. The 2026 Aarto Regulations were published a day later, on 30 June.

Motalatale Modiba, the spokesperson for the South African Local Government Association (Salga), said it too was continuing its opposition to the roll-out of the Aarto ­system in municipalities and would also be a party to Outa’s application.

Funding model concerns

Modiba said that although Salga supported the objectives of Aarto and its ­purported contribution to safer roads and reducing accidents in SA, its funding model raised serious concerns.

“Municipalities are already operating in an increasingly constrained fiscal environment, with limited resources to deliver essential services. The current Aarto regulations, published in October 2025, impose financial burdens on municipalities without providing a sustainable financial model that will ensure effective implementation. This threatens municipal financial sustainability and risks diverting limited resources away from service delivery to cover the costs of implementing Aarto,” he said.

Modiba further explained that the implementation of the system was so expensive that municipalities would have to subsidise it.

Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana confirmed this week that many of the municipalities on the Treasury’s radar are in precarious financial situations.

Another 115 municipalities have been included in the next phase of the project. All Western Cape municipalities have been excluded from the roll-out previously, and Mkalipi said no date has yet been set for their inclusion, but they “might be included” in the next phases of the project.

He said the Road Traffic Infringement Agency had filed a notice with the court indicating its intention to oppose Outa’s legal action.

Modiba said Salga was also pushing for its intergovernmental dispute, relating to the financial impact of the Aarto system on municipalities, to be heard. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.