Covid-19 has put the brakes on the controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto).Signed into law in August last year, the new Act was expected to be rolled out across the country in June, though government didn’t provide an official date for the rollout. It has, however, since said that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has halted any rollout plans.Earlier in June Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula announced the postponement of Aarto. This, he said, was due to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, responsible for Aarto, being severely compromised by the pandemic. Currently under severe financial strain, it did not have the capacity or the funds for a rollout of the Act which will introduce a points demerit system for violations of traffic law in the country.Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, said they had been aware of the postponement, but no indication had been given as to when the Act would be implemented.“Government has also not responded to the comments that were made through the public comment process.”This was concerning, said Kelly, as it was unclear whether the comments received from industry had been accepted or rejected. “We also don’t know what changes – if any – were made to the proposed 2019 regulations. In short, none of the issues identified by the RFA in November last year have been resolved.”He said the process was ongoing.
