Political parties, businesses and lobby groups in Gauteng are gearing up to block the impending implementation of the new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Act, on the grounds that it will not only negatively affect freight businesses but also pave the way for further corruption. The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) has been quick to poke holes in the rumour that e-toll noncompliance will see drivers lose their licences under the new Act. But the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the lobby groups, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and Justice Project South Africa (JPSA), are still concerned about the effect that the new road traffic regulations will have on drivers and on businesses relying on transport. “This law is putting businesses at risk as truck drivers working for small businesses could lose their jobs – because their licences will be suspended for three years if there are a few infringements,” a DA spokesperson pointed out. Rudie Heyneke, Outa’s portfolio manager on transport, said his organisation would launch a constitutional challenge to the new Act as previous comments and concerns raised were not taken into consideration when signing the bill into law. He also maintains that the system is flawed and will see an increase in bribery and corruption as drivers seek to avoid losing their licences. JPSA has also been working with “some of the best legal minds around” to draw up the papers for its legal and constitutional challenge to the Aarto Act. Howard Dembovsky, chairperso of JPSA, reiterated a statement made by Heyneke that the pilot projects that had taken place over the past decade in Tshwane and Johannesburg using this system had failed, with “millions of fines issued being declared unlawful” by the Public Protector in 2014. A spokesperson for the law firm, Goldberg & de Villiers Inc, echoed these sentiments, saying every motorist, vehicle owner, professional driver and transport operator would be at risk of losing their licences or permits or operator cards. Road and transport legislation consultant Alta Swanepoel told FTW that there was a “huge risk” to truck drivers and operators as there was a chance that a driver could lose their licence and, in some cases, see an unroadworthy vehicle removed from the road should there be ongoing non-compliance with road and traffic regulations. “Furthermore, fines will now be issued against specific drivers, so it forces operators to declare upfront who is driving their truck. The onus is thus on both parties to ensure compliance,” she said, adding that there would be ample opportunity to fight the matter in court and reduce the amount on the fines. Goldberg & de Villiers Inc pointed out that some demerits apply to drivers only, while others apply to both driver and operator. The firm’s representative suggested that transport operators structured their employment contracts in such a way that they would have access to their employees’ demerit point status, in order to deal with the consequences of an employee having their licence suspended or cancelled. “Furthermore,” said the representative, “check your insurance policies: must you disclose any changes in your employees’ demerit status? Are you at risk of losing cover?” The RTIA has indicated that the regulations would likely be published by next month. “The RTIA also says that enforcement agencies will then be given about six months to get the paperwork up to date and to train,” said Swanepoel.
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Fines will now be issued against specific drivers, so it forces operators to declare upfront who is driving their truck.