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We welcome the judgement handed down by the Constitutional Court today on the constitutionality challenge against the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act mounted by OUTA, affirms our long-held view that this a necessary law to advance our efforts in arresting the carnage on our roads.

This judgement provides clarity on Schedule 4 matters of concurrent function between the national and provincial sphere as well as Schedule 5 which is exclusive provincial competence.  Our assertion that AARTO is part of Road Regulation and thus concurrent competence has been confirmed by the highest court in the land.

The AARO Act is an important cog in our road traffic law enforcement interventions aimed at arresting the carnage on our roads and alter driver behaviour.  This will reinforce other interventions such as classifying traffic policing as a 24-hour, 7-day job alongside the regulation of driving schools and introduction of an NQF level 6 training for traffic law enforcement officers.

The implementation of this law across the country has been pending for 25 years, with pilots in place in the Cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane.  With this judgement having cleared the path for the implementation of AARTO, we will move with speed to roll out its implementation across the country without delay.

In the coming days, we will ensure that the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) mobilises the necessary capacity and proceeds with its rollout plans across all municipalities in the country.  We are also ready to finalise our recommendations to the President for the appointment of the Tribunal and the proclamation of the AARTO Act implementation as well as the AARTO Amendment Act.

We will equally move with speed with the implementation of the points demerit system, an important cornerstone of the AARTO Act intended to drive motorist behaviour on our roads.  

We are pleased that this judgement not only removes the uncertainty that was created by this legal challenge, but enables us to focus on ensuring that our roads are safe for all road users with penalties that will make a telling difference.

Issued by Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga