Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts Chair Songezo Zibi has called for new legislation to enable the electronic issuing and collection of traffic fines, a move aimed at helping municipalities avoid writing off large amounts of unpaid fines.
According to Zibi, the current paper-based system under the AARTO Act creates significant challenges for collection. Municipalities currently perform traffic law enforcement functions on behalf of provincial departments of transport, but face limitations in effectively collecting revenue from these fines.
SALGA Spokesperson Motalatale Modiba welcomed the discussion, emphasising that the issue highlights deeper problems in the intergovernmental funding model.
“The whole scenario… comes back to the call that we probably have been making for the longest of time… in terms of reviewing of the current funding model,” Modiba said. He noted that traffic enforcement is not a core municipal function but is executed at the local level, creating a disjuncture where municipalities bear administrative costs while provinces receive the majority of revenue.
Modiba explained that municipalities typically receive about 20% of traffic fine revenue, while provincial governments receive 80%. However, the costs of enforcement — including vehicles, human resources, and administrative overheads — often exceed this share, resulting in unfunded or underfunded mandates.
He referenced a Treasury report from early 2025 indicating that metros were incurring billions in costs due to such unfunded mandates. “If you look at where that 20% goes to it’s not enough to sustain the service,” Modiba stated, adding that this leads to deficits that impact other service delivery areas.
SALGA has long advocated for a complete review of the local government funding model. Modiba highlighted Chapter 8 of the gazetted White Paper on local government, which addresses lessons from the past 30 years regarding revenue assumptions and current economic realities.
On the proposal for electronic fines, Modiba pointed to problems with the current requirement for notices to be sent via registered post through the South African Post Office. “That has been a serious loophole,” he said, noting delivery failures and administrative backlogs.
He suggested exploring modern alternatives similar to e-banking and electronic notices used by banks and retailers. “Those kind of things should be explored to look at unbottling and freeing municipalities from this administrative backlog,” Modiba added.
The SALGA spokesperson outlined two potential paths forward: either assigning the full function to municipalities with a more equitable revenue split, or having provincial authorities take complete responsibility to relieve municipalities of related costs.
He also called for a differentiated approach to funding, recognising that not all municipalities face the same economic conditions. Some serve more viable economies, while others operate in challenging environments where communities struggle financially.
Ultimately, Modiba stressed the need for financial sustainability at the local government level. “We need our municipalities to be financially viable. But they’re not going to be financially viable if there are all of these what I would call unfunded or maybe underfunded mandates.”
The parliamentary committee’s push for legislative reform on electronic traffic fine systems is seen as a potential step towards addressing both collection inefficiencies and the broader funding challenges faced by municipalities.
