Aarto remains on a backburner until policing concerns are addressed

Fifteen years after the approval of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto), it has yet to be rolled out in the country – and indications are it will not happen in 2013 either. Aarto, first approved in Parliament in 1998, was piloted in the Tshwane municipality in 2008 with Johannesburg following suit several months later. Since then several dates have been announced for its roll-out countrywide that will see a point demerit system implemented, but delays have continued to hamper the process. According to Gavin Kelly, spokesman for the Road Freight Association (RFA), they have been involved in discussions around Aarto for several years. “We had lengthy talks about Aarto through the Nedlac task team in 2011, but since then there have not been many further developments,” he said. “We did meet with the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) in September last year where we agreed to several resolutions that they would take back to the Minister of Transport, but we have not heard anything since then. We hope to pick up the matter this year.” Kelly said there were still several unresolved matters regarding Aarto that would ultimately delay implementation. He said for Aarto to be successful a reliable and efficient traffic policing system was needed for the country. “Whether you have the current system or implement Aarto, you need to have good officers on the ground.” Experts have maintained that implementing a system such as Aarto on its own will not have the effect government is aiming for. “Unless one ensures there is no human intervention in this system, the window of opportunity for corruption is huge and then it won’t be a success.” He said the pilot projects in Tshwane and Johannesburg had been a cause for concern as they proved how the system could be manipulated. “Johannesburg is seemingly doing its own thing and we are aware of at least one court case against them in that regard. Much work still has to be done before Aarto will become a reality,” he said. CAPTION Demerits proposed for traffic infractions like using a cell phone while driving ... but the opportunity for corruption is a concern.