Aarto implementation postponed

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Implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of the Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act will be delayed for a couple of months, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said on Wednesday.

RTMC acting chief executive officer Collins Letsoalo said the delay was to ensure the legislation was effective when it was implemented.

A proclamation repealing the previous implementation dates gazetted earlier this year, was signed by President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday.

Letsoalo said law enforcement officers' role in the World Cup had hampered preparations for the implementation of the project.

Communication, training

Problems with communication and educating the public on their rights, duties and obligations had also been identified during a pilot implementation of the legislation in Tshwane and Johannesburg.

Other issues of concern were training people to use the system and effective performance of the system when uploading infringement information.

Aarto was to have been introduced in Ekurhuleni, Ethekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Cape Town on July 1. It is already in operation in Tshwane and Johannesburg.

Its postponement will affect the implementation of the demerit system scheduled to be implemented in April next year.

"No one wants to lose their license because of glitches in the system," said Letsoalo.

He denied that the RTMC had bowed to pressure to postpone.

Interdict

The Western Cape had threatened to seek an urgent interdict to stop implementation because of loopholes and unreadiness. Other provinces and municipalities had indicated that they were not ready for implementation.

Describing the cost of the postponement as "loss of life", Letsoalo said he was alarmed that the interdict threat.

There had been discussions where it was agreed that there might be a postponement as the July 1 implementation date was "not doable", he said.

Letsoalo said the postponement should not be seen as a deviation from the government's commitment to promoting road safety.

He said the delay would be about two or three months, and that Aarto would be implemented during this financial year.