You could soon be receiving traffic fine reminders via WhatsApp
The vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday, 5 March resulted in 174 votes in favour of the Bill, 11 against and 22 abstentions.
The controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Bill has now officially been signed off by the National Assembly, meaning it now only needs President Cyril Ramaphosa to assent to it and sign it into law.
The Aarto Bill, first tabled in 2015, first reared its head in public in 2016, when the call was put out to the public to comment on the changes, which many felt were controversial. Three years later, it is now on the verge being signed into law and subsequently transforming the way South Africans are fined, the way they receive their fines, and even the way they lose their licences.
According to BusinessTech, some of the biggest changes the Bill could bring about include:
• Failing to pay traffic fines can lead to a block on obtaining driving and vehicle licences and an administrative fee will be required – in addition to other penalties
• Where documents previously had to be delivered by registered mail through the South African Post Office, in terms of the amendment, authorities will now also be able to serve documents electronically and can send reminders via WhatsApp and SMS
• A new demerit system will be introduced. Depending on the severity of the offence, 1 to 6 points are allocated for offences. Accumulating more than 12 points will result in the disqualification of the driver’s licence, and three suspensions will result in its cancellation
• The establishment of a new Appeals Tribunal which will preside over issues that are raised under the new Bill.
While many a civil rights group and ordinary South African individual may feel that the Bill is far too controversial and will never work, according to the Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande, there are benefits to it. Among other things, Nzimande noted that it could help the government overcome discrepancies in penalties imposed by different magistrates as well as help in being stricter on those who don’t pay fines or ignore their court summonses.
President Ramaphosa not only has the final say on whether the Bill will be signed into law or not, but is also the decision-maker over when the new laws will come into effect.
