Demerit system in the dock

While local authorities are reported to be seeking to have the implementation of the controversial Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) system postponed, partly because of the massive loss of income it seems set to imply for them, Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) claims that “road traffic offences remain a significantly profitable and frequently abused sector for law enforcement authorities, local government, national government and private institutions". The system may be heading for legal battles on two fronts.

The MEC for Transport in the Western Cape Robin Carlisle has very recently warned that unless a postponement of the implementation of the system on a national basis - which was earlier gazetted for 1 July - could be agreed upon with national government, local authorities would have to consider declaring an intergovernmental dispute.

Cape Town mayoral committee (Mayco) member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the matter would be taken to court.

On its website, Justice Project South Africa for its part declares that “this site seeks to enrol ordinary members of the public in what could easily become the biggest set of class action lawsuits South Africa has ever seen, intended to fix what is wrong in the system and gain compensation for those who have already been adversely affected.”

The way in which they have positioned a core element of their opposition to the implementation of AARTO (also commonly known as the demerit system), Carlisle and Smith may have played right into the hands of JPSA.

They declared their concern that the City could lose a substantial part of its annual R160 million income from traffic fines. Even if national government were to give a guarantee that fine income, which under AARTO will be collected on a censtralised basis by the new Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), would remain in the province, income for local authorities would be likely to deplete considerably. Under AARTO, vehicle owners who paid their fines within 32 days would receive a 50% discount.

Claiming that there is still much work that needs to be done legally and administratively before the system can be implemented, Carlisle said that the income to the City was one of the key issues that will still need to be sorted out. Traffic fine income helped to provide municipal traffic law enforcement services, he claimed.

He also lamented the fact that in February last year, millions of rands’ worth of traffic fines issued during the festive season were scrapped because of a gap in legislation.

These arguments seem to add weight to the claims made by civil organisations over a long period that local authorities are using the implementation of traffic legislation rather as an income-generating exercise than an instrument to improve traffic safety. The major weight of enforcement seems to fall on often easily policed petty parking offences rather than those aimed at improving road safety.

According to JPSA, there are approximately 9.5 million registered vehicles in this country and for each registered vehicle, there is at least one licensed driver. “Whilst this figure represents under one-fifth of South Africa’s population, its demographic remains the highest sector of prosecution annually.”

For the Minister of Transport S'bu Ndebele, one of the main aims is indeed to alleviate pressures on the court system. He told parliament recently that South African courts are battling to cope due to dozens of unattended cases relating to traffic offences over the years, which has  placed tremendous strain on court resources. It has resulted in traffic offences during 2008 only being heard in October 2010 and into 2011.

The Johannesburg Metro Police Department alone has around 201 779 traffic offences on the court roll for 2010 for offences committed during 2008. About 53 809 traffic offences could not be accommodated and have court dates pending after October 2010 and into 2011.

For the Cape Town Metro, up to 132 226 traffic cases are on the court roll up to October 2010. Ndebele noted that traffic offences during the current year will have to be heard during 2011/2012 and into 2013.

AARTO is designed to divert traffic fines from courts so that court rolls are less clogged. Part of the system would see people who break road rules having points deducted, which could see them lose their licence. But people who pay their fines early will receive massive discounts.

But on its website, JPSA poses the following question: “Are you aware of the fact that provisions in the National Road Traffic Act violate your constitutional rights? Are you aware of the fact that the AARTO Act compounds this by providing for the suspension and/or cancellation of your driver’s licence? Are you aware of the fact that frequent and flagrant disregard for laws and procedures has seen law enforcement authorities violating the rights of ordinary citizens?”

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Comments (3)

• |2010-05-12 05:55:54 Leon  - Reduced Deaths
  Why look at the money lost but rather look at the lives that will be saved by getting law breaking, aggressive drivers off the road!! Traffic Fines have not curbed our terrible road safety record so those habitual offenders must loose their license.
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• |2010-05-12 07:12:10 Louis  - Complex issue
  This issue is multi-faceted and complex. While I'm inherently against anything that creates a burocratic and administrative way (AARTO) of dealing with something which is essentially a legal issue (traffic law violations), let's not forget that nobody forced the traffic offenders to break the law. This speaks to the general tendency in SA society to blame someone else for everything. What we need is consequence management, i.e. vigorous traffic law enforcement through the courts. The current mess is because that was never done in the first place and in turn led to a general disregard for the traffic laws. The idea of a discount for quick payers is also ill-conceived. This reinforces the idea that you can buy your way through the justice system.
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• |2010-05-19 12:54:54 Gerda
  Bribes will be at the order of the day! You think bribery is high now? Loose points versus paying a bribe? Now that is no brain teaser! Unemployment will surely go up! Why? Any company that has a driver(s) will have to constantly check to see if the employee's drivers license are still valid. If not, he would not be able to fulfill his duties, and will therefor lose his/her job. Has anyone even considered this?
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