By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The High Court this week declared South Africa’s controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act and the Aarto Amendment Act as unconstitutional and invalid.
In her ruling, judge Annali Basson found that the legislation unlawfully intrudes upon the exclusive executive and legislative competence of the local and provincial governments envisaged in the Constitution, preventing local and provincial governments from regulating their own affairs.
The judge declared the laws to be inconsistent with the Constitution in their entirety, effectively sending the transport department back to the drawing board.
The ruling was welcomed by various sectors of the country, including the civil action groups that brought the case, opposition parties that campaigned against the laws, as well as local governments which were set to lose billions of rands to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) through the laws.
Policymakers in Johannesburg and Tshwane – where the Aarto system has been in place for over a decade – told the City Press that they are now looking at ways to claim back the billions of rands handed over the RTIA during this time.
They said that for every R500 fined on roads in the cities, R250 would end up with the RTIA.
However, uncertainty still persists around the ruling and what it means for Aarto. Transport minister Fikile Mbalula has so far merely ‘noted’ the ruling, though the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) – which brought the case to the courts – is anticipating an appeal process from the department.
Legal experts, meanwhile, say the ruling still has a long process ahead of it and will need to be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.
Professor Bernard Bekink of the department of public law at the University of Pretoria told the publication that authorities should act responsibly and stop the rollout of Aarto while this process plays out. However, he warned that even if the ruling is confirmed by the Constitutional Court, it is unlikely to be applied retroactively.
The Aarto system was expected to become fully operational in July 2022, which would include the official introduction of the new traffic demerit system. The Aarto has been rolled out nationally in phases since June 2021, with phase 3 of the rollout scheduled to begin in January 2022.
The Aarto Act was established as a single national system of road traffic regulation and has been in operation in Johannesburg and Tshwane only as a pilot project since July 2007 – intended to be rolled out in other provinces.