The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act and the AARTO Amendment Act were declared unconstitutional and invalid by the Pretoria High Court on 13 January 2022.  As a result of OUTA’s lawsuit filed in July 2020, the court found that AARTO constitutionally interfered  with the executive and legislative powers of provincial and local governments. This week OUTA went to the Constitutional Court to seek confirmation of the High Court’s order. 

OUTA’s application to overturn AARTO is opposed by the Minister of Transport, the RTIA and the RTMC, while the City of Cape Town is now also calling for AARTO to go as a friend of the court. 

Government insists that the AARTO Acts will ensure safer roads, but while OUTA believes that road safety is a serious issue that is not getting the attention and resources it requires, we believe AARTO is not the solution as it is focused on revenue collection rather than road safety. 

OUTA believes that government should significantly improve road safety by adopting international best practices relating to road safety, monitoring these and making evidence-based decisions. Traffic laws in themselves have little value unless they are implemented, and the current implementation is inadequate. Furthermore, a recent investigation by the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport confirmed massive corruption at driving licencing testing centres (DLTCs), in our view contributes to South Africa’s unsafe roads and high number of road deaths. 

Read more here on our stance on AARTO.