The Road Traffic Management Corporation together with the Department of Transport has decided to postpone the implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, originally set for the metropolitan authorities of Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Cape Town on 1 July 2010 and on 1 November 2010 countrywide.
The proclamation to repeal the previous roll-out dates as was published in Gazette 33114 on 16 April 2010 was signed by the President yesterday and will be published today, Wednesday, 30 June 2010 in Gazette No 33341.
The decision to postpone the roll out, particularly to the metropolitan authorities, is motivated by the need to ensure effective implementation. It also recognised the critical role played by law enforcement officers and their commitment towards effective traffic control during the FIFA World Cup which prohibited preparations for AARTO.
This postponement should not be read as a deviation towards the commitment by the Minister, the Department of Transport and the corporation towards the achievements of the goals to promote road safety.
When the AARTO was implemented in Tshwane and Johannesburg, some issues that were identified during the pilot for further attention included amongst others the following:
- The need for the strengthening of the communication and education of the general public in order to ensure that all road users and people affected by the system had a full and clear understanding of their rights, duties and obligations and in terms of the AARTO process.
To that effect we have embarked on a communication campaign that you would have noticed in various media over the past two months.
- The role of the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) as an adjudicating entity for road traffic infringements.
- Confirmation of systems performance issues from the authorities related to the electronic uploading of infringement information and the online, real time updating of transactions onto the National Contraventions Register. Currently there are different systems in use and the movement to the full utilisation of National Traffic Information System (eNaTIS) needs to be facilitated.
- Training of different role players in the use of the systems. To this effect the RTMC has developed standard operating procedures to be trained with all role players involved.
The RTMC reiterates that the decision to postpone was taken without any pressure from anyone. We will be announcing the new date for the rollout in due course.
Road safety has been identified by our government as a priority. To this extend it has been included in the performance agreement between the Minister and the president. We are committed to the AARTO implementation as one of the pillars of the road safety strategy.
This is in line with the Moscow declaration to which South Africa is a signatory. The fatalities and injuries on our roads are creating a society of orphans and unacceptable loss of breadwinners and a major cost to the economy.
We are therefore committed to ensuring that this ceases to be a daily occurrence in South Africa. An average of 38 people losing their lives on our roads on a daily basis is totally unacceptable.
We reiterate that the AARTO Act is a 12 year old legislation that is meant to assist in pushing pack this attack on the South African population. Therefore, we have to ensure that we save lives and that should be our preoccupation. Any other matters are secondary and should be dealt with as such.
Recognising that additional time is required to address the outstanding challenges, we vow to ensure that the AARTO is implemented successfully in this financial year ending 31 March 2011.
For further information please contact:
Collins Letsoalo
Cell: 012 809 5202
