Motoring & Legislation News
Article By Michael Taylor
New law will stop businesses selling their vehicles in South Africa according to the new AARTO Act.
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The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act has been postponed, but it is still expected to create several new hurdles for businesses in South Africa.
The first phase of the nationwide Aarto Act was meant to commence on 1 December 2025, but the government announced last week that the date has been pushed back to 1 July 2026.
According to the Department of Transport (DoT), the reason for the delay is that several municipalities are not ready to implement the new laws.
It stated that it had identified the following issues during an assessment leading up to the original launch date:
- The finalization of training of both law enforcement and back office personnel.
- The harmonisation of the current law enforcement system used by various municipalities, and funding thereof.
“The Department will soon publish the new proclamation with new staggered implementation dates, the 1st of July being the official implementation date,” said the Department of Transport in a statement.
“The phased approach of implementation will still be maintained as initially envisaged.”
Several industry stakeholders have called on the DoT to use the time to revise aspects of the Aarto Act, which are expected to create several new problems when they are eventually implemented.
MasterDrive CEO Eugene Herbert noted that, while the dates of the staggered release are being amended to match the new launch date, the rest of the Act is expected to remain the same.
In a recent statement, Herbert highlighted several points of the Act that were clarified in a government gazette. This includes:
- Paying fines within 30 days reduces penalties by 50%.
- Initially, it will link company vehicle fines directly to the business’s official Registration Number (BRN).
- Vehicles cannot be renewed or transferred until fines are paid.
- Demerit points can only be transferred to drivers during the third phase.
- Once a driver accumulates 15 demerit points their license can be suspended or cancelled.
- The Act includes a driver rehabilitation programme.
He warned that Aarto will create new problems for businesses, as the demerit system can potentially limit their ability to manage their vehicle fleets.
“While there was some expectation that the Act would become less onerous, this is not true for businesses,” said Herbert.
“The initial removal of a proxy, removes a significant amount of administrative burden. Simultaneously, it has its own administrative requirements.”
If a fine is not settled within 30 days, the discount is lost and the consequences of the unresolved fine can quickly escalate.
“With unpaid fines, businesses cannot renew vehicle licenses, transfer ownership or register new vehicles. This requires the appointment of someone to trace and settle fines.”
“Should an organisation fail to do this, and fines remain unpaid, this can incapacitate a business by preventing legal operation.”
“This heralds major change for organisations that do not settle fines under the current legislation. In 2023, it was estimated that less than 20% of fines were paid.”
Herbert said that the Aarto Act will make non-compliance impossible, as the eNatis system can trace fines using the BRN.
“It necessitates tracking fines internally and instituting verified payment systems immediately to avoid costly downtime.”
He warned that companies without a formal practice to manage traffic violations should remedy this immediately.
Furthermore, it is recommended that organisations put their drivers through additional training to reduce their likelihood of committing traffic infringement or offences.
“It places direct accountability—and administrative responsibility—squarely on organisations. Failing to adapt can result in operational disruptions that could halt business entirely.”
“The message is clear: proactive compliance is no longer optional, it is essential for continued operations,” said Herbert.
Confusion over who is affected by the new laws
Earlier this year, ChangeCars CEO Michael Pashut warned that the Aarto demerit system will limit private motorists’ ability to sell their cars in South Africa.
He claimed that anyone with unresolved Aarto infringements will be unable to sell their car until the fines are settled.
Furthermore, Pashut said that this will create a new risk for buyers, who may be unwittingly saddled with Aarto fines when accepting a vehicle from an unscrupulous seller.
However, these claims were later disputed by Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield-Jones, who stated that cars belonging to private citizens cannot have unresolved Aarto infringements.
“All Aaarto demerit points and infringements apply to the person who committed the infringement, whether the owner or not,” he said.
“The points — and any applicable enforcement orders — do not accrue to a vehicle owned by a private individual.”
Handfield-Jones said if Pashut was alleging that an e-Natis block arising from an enforcement order also prevented a change-of-ownership, that was a “novel” claim which authorities have not confirmed.
“There is no indication that the change-of-ownership transaction itself would be prohibited, nor have I heard of any reports of such related to an enforcement order in the past.”
“Such a stance would create extraordinary complications for binding finance arrangements, repossessions, deregistration of destroyed vehicles, insurance cover, cessions of vehicles as security, vehicles in deceased estates, and more,” he said.
At worst, Aarto is expected to limit a person’s ability to renew their vehicle licence disc using the eNatis portal online.
The exception is for vehicles owned by judicial entities like businesses, as these can accrue demerit points.
“If the vehicle exceeds 15 points, it’s banned from the roads for three months for each point over the limit,” he said.
The company’s directors may also be sentenced to a one-year jail term if the banned vehicle is used on a public road.
“One can’t evade this by scrapping or selling the vehicle — the points simply accrue to the next vehicle registered by that entity.”
Aarto will also require companies to nominate the driver responsible for the demerit; otherwise, they will be liable for the fine and the points.
Handfield-Jones was more sceptical of the claim that it will limit a company’s ability to sell the vehicle, even if it exceeds the 15-point threshold.
“Whether an enforcement order in respect of a vehicle would prevent a company from disposing of it is mere speculation for now,” he said.
Article Credit to: Top Auto
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Read Also: How To Check If You Have Outstanding Traffic Fines
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