Johannesburg - For Jozi’s habitual traffic offenders, the stroke of the president’s pen could bring dire consequences if they continue their reckless ways on the city’s roads.
The controversial demerit system, which is part of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Bill, is close to being implemented after a decade of waiting.
The new system will see traffic offenders accumulating penalty points, together with a fine.
It will work with each driver beginning with a clean slate of zero points.
Different traffic infringements will have different points. Driving without a licence will cost four demerit points. Drunk driving will be worth six demerit points, while using a cellphone while driving will cost one point. Once a driver exceeds 12 points his or her licence is suspended.
Three suspensions and the driver permanently loses the licence.
With the demerit system will come new road traffic violation rules, which will remove the courts from the Aarto process and replace them with a dedicated authority.
This amendment, which was introduced as a pilot project in Johannesburg and Tshwane back in 2008, was adopted by the National Council of Provinces.
Amendment to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences was also approved by parliament’s transport portfolio committee.
The amendment bill will now go to the National Assembly and if Parliament adopts the bill, it will go to President Cyril Ramaphosa to be signed into law.
Minister of Transport Dr Blade Nzimande this week welcomed the “progressive move” by the portfolio committee on transport to accept the final amendments on the Aarto Bill.
He argued that this legislation would go a long way in dealing with South Africa’s high road accident, as well as the death and injury, rate.
“As a country we are experiencing an average of just under 14000 deaths per annum, which equates to about 38 people every single day, who lose their lives on our roads,” Nzimande said in a statement released to the media.
“The implementation of Aarto is among the critical interventions to reduce these fatalities and save lives on our roads.”
But other organisations don’t agree that this is the answer to road fatalities.
Automobile Association (AA) spokesperson Layton Beard agrees that a significant stride needs to be taken to make the country’s roads safer, but he is not convinced that the Aarto Amendment Bill is the answer.
He told The Saturday Star that he has doubts about the implementation of the bill and added that reducing road fatalities should be a primary concern over the collection of revenue.
“The high accident rate every year, as well as road deaths and injuries, should be the driving force of the bill and not the collection of revenue.”
Beard said the only viable long-term solution at this stage to make the roads safer was for increased and effective policing.
“There also needs to be an intensive education of drivers, including future drivers and those under the age of 16, because the rules of the road need to be taught from an early age.”
These sentiments were shared by Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), whose transport portfolio manager Rudie Heyneke also stressed the importance of visible policing.
“Studies have shown that visible policing is one of the most effective methods of crime prevention and the reducing of traffic violations,” said Heyneke.
He added that he was not confident that this legislation could enhance road safety.
Meanwhile, another element of the Aarto Amendment Bill is that traffic offences will be placed in what Nzimande described as an “effective, efficient and streamlined system” that will take the pressure off the overstretched court system.
But this feature has also been widely criticised as unconstitutional.
Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) chairperson Howard Dembovsky explained that “this is unconstitutional because it is predicated on the presumption of guilt and the constitution is predicated on the presumption of innocence.”
Beard agreed and added that the AA’s concern was around the constitutional provisions in relation to persons’ ability to challenge a fine, while Heyneke said that OUTA was outraged that the constitutionality of the amendments would take away an individual’s right to a fair trial.
Despite widespread criticism of the amendment bill, many agree that the demerit system, which could see a motorist’s drivers licence being suspended or removed, could be positive if the entire system is implemented properly.
The Department of Transport believes it will force habitual traffic offenders to face the consequences.
“It will be for the first time that government brings certainty and effective mechanism to ensure that persistent offenders are taken off the road through licence suspension/removal or loss of the operator’s licence,” said Nzimande.
“The system brings with it improved fine collection procedures and a revenue stream that will be used for improving road safety; as well as more convenient ways of paying fines,” he added.
Meanwhile, JPSA also welcomed the move provided it was implemented properly.
“We welcome the demerit system based on the principles that an individual is afforded a fair trial,” said Dembovsky, but he added that it shouldn’t just turn “driving offences into invoices”.
Beard said that the AA had always been proponents of the system.
“If it is implemented properly, it can be effective.”
Have your say on traffic law
All motorists and members of the public are urged to have their say on on the future and direction of road traffic law enforcement in South Africa.
The Traffic Law Enforcement Committee, set up by the minister of transport in 2017, invites all individuals to have their say on developing a blueprint for the future design of traffic law enforcement.
Chairperson of the committee Dr Kesolofetse Lefenya said public comment was integral.
“There would never be enough officers to deploy in all the areas so we are asking members of the public to put forward innovative ways in which the laws might be more effectively applied.”
Submissions must:
- Be written in English in MS Word format.
- Contain the full name and contact details of the person making the submission.
- Where the submission is made on behalf of an organisation, Contain the full name of the organisation.
- Be attached to a covering email, and sent to [email protected]
- Reach the committee by email not later than 5pm on March 8, 2019.
If the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Bill is signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa, a demerit system for motorists will be introduced.
According to the Aarto website, the system has been introduced to penalise drivers and operators who are habitual offenders.
Demerit points are recorded against your name in the following instances:
- When penalties and fees are paid.
- When you apply to pay in instalments.
- When you are convicted in court.
- When an enforcement order is issued.
How demerits work
- Every person starts with 0 points and the maximum permissible number of points is 12.
- In other words, a person is allowed to drive until he or she has 12 points. Every point exceeding 12 points results in a three-month suspension of the licence.
- One point is reduced every three months if no further contraventions occur within the three-month period.
- A licence is cancelled when it has been suspended for the third time.
- The demerit points in respect of vehicle operators and drivers are recorded separately even if they arise out of the same incident.
- If you have a learner’s licence your demerit points will start to reduce only when your licence is issued.
- If you are an unlicensed driver, you receive no discount and your demerit points will start to reduce only when your licence is issued. If you are caught for the third time as an unlicenced driver you will be arrested.
- If you elect to go to court points are only recorded only if you are found guilty. If you appeal against a conviction no demerit points are recorded unless the appeal is rejected or abandoned.
- A person with more than 12 demerits will be disqualified from driving for a period of months equal to the number of points over 12 multiplied by three.
- A disqualified driver must hand in any driving licence or professional driving permit to the issuing authority for retention during the disqualification period or must remove the prescribed operator card from the vehicle in applicable cases; and may not apply for a driving licence, professional driving permit or operator card during the disqualification period.