RFA excluded from Aarto public hearings

The government’s portfolio
committee on transport held
public hearings last week
on the highly contentious
Administrative Adjudication
of Road Traffic Offences
(Aarto) bill.
The committee was due to
deliberate on the submissions
on Tuesday (September 13)
and those elements that
enhanced the Aarto legislation
would be incorporated into the
bill, said committee chairman
Dikeledi Magadzi. She added
that the same approach would
be followed for the National
Land Transport Amendment
Bill.
Among the organisations
and individuals making inputs
were SA Taxi, the SA Local
Government Association
(Salga), the Justice Project SA
and Tasima.
And Magadzi made one of
those statements that sparkled
like the usual glass of flat soda
of government spin.
“It was encouraging to
see South Africans taking
ownership of a process to
formulate a piece of legislation
that will impact on them,” she
said. “This administration
values the citizens and will
always involve them in
decision-making.”
But in her list of the public
involved in this decisionmaking
process, she forgot
to add probably the two most
involved groups of “citizens”.
Neither the Road Freight
Association (RFA) nor the SA
Bus Operators’ Association
(Saboa) – representing all the
thousands of heavy goods
and passenger vehicles on
SA roads – were informed
or invited to attend this
discussion, according to the
RFA’s technical and operations
manager, Gavin Kelly.
“Given that we were not
part of these discussions or
agreements,” he told FTW,
“the RFA cannot support this
process without the confidence
of knowing that its concerns
have been addressed.”
He also made it clear that
“other individuals and public
agencies could not speak on
behalf of the freight industry”.
Facing the question of what
next, Kelly said that the RFA
would await publication of
the discussions and direction
taken during these exclusive
sessions. “Then,” he added,
“we will decide on what future
direction and action may be
taken by the association.”