The latest Aarto law was approved by parliament despite a strong plea against it by FF Plus.
This paves the way for the implementation of a demerit point system whereby owners of vehicles are penalized on the system that could lead to the refusal to renew licenses.
Observers are skeptical about what is really going to happen with taxis who abuse the roads and remain reckless and lawless.
FF Plus says that the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) failed and proves the ANC government’s inability to enforce a law of this magnitude.
Adv. Anton Alberts, the FF Plus parliamentary spokesman for transport on the Second Reading debate of the Aarto Amendment Bill, said the intention of the law was good, namely to promote road safety. However, under the ANC it has turned into a bureaucratic quagmire that increased road accidents and deaths.
According to Adv. Alberts, there are mainly two reasons for this: the first is that the law is not carried out by the Aarto authorities themselves. He says if law enforcement officers can not even execute their own mandatory law, road users can not be expected to respect the law.
“We have recently seen a fine management service provider, Fines4U, obtain a court order against the Road Traffic Agency (RTA). The verdict was damning in so far as it was decided that RTA did not consider the application of the Aarto Act.”
“Over time, we have seen the Aarto authorities act outside the guidelines of the law by sending notices by regular posting, by setting up roadblocks and threatening road users with fines if penalties are not paid immediately, and by not sending out notices within the prescribed time limits.”
“These actions were ultra vires, or beyond the framework of Aarto’s powers, but it did not prevent the authorities from proceeding with that.”
“The Fines4U ruling has shown that most Aarto notices issued since the start of its testing phases in Gauteng may be illegal, and this could lead to a class action against RTA for unlawful enrichment.”
“It is significant that no Aarto court has been established to date to try notices, which means that all the notices have landed in an administrative deadlock which makes it invalid and unenforceable.”
“The second reason for Aarto’s failure is that motorists became aware of the RTA’s failure to comply with the law. In an uprising similar to that of the e-toll, many road users simply ignored any violation notices.”
“Since the Aarto Act does not work and the Criminal Procedure Act it is not being used to police national road traffic offenses, no proper law enforcement is found. Motorists, who aware of it, adapted their driving behavior in this lawless environment created by Aarto. Roads have become more dangerous.”
“For these reasons, the amendments that are now being proposed are senseless. We know that Aarto will continue to fail when it comes to implementation. It is time that the ANC acknowledges that it can not perform a complex piece of legislation as Aarto. The law’s failure shows that it is time for a competent government,” said Adv. Alberts.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on Die Vryburger
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