Outa to challenge the Aarto Amendment Act
The Organization Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said on Friday it plans to mount a legal challenge against the amendment of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act.
President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year assented to and signed the Aarto Amendment Bill, making it law. Implementation now awaits the law being gazetted with a commencement date.
The Act sets up a demerit system for drivers, who lose points for traffic offences, which may result in the loss of a driving licence.
Rudie Heyneke, Outa portfolio manager on transport, said they held a workshop to consult the industry on the Bill, made submissions to Parliament based on this and, after the Bill was passed by Parliament, wrote twice to the President asking him not to sign it.
"Outa has opposed this Bill from the start and is now planning a constitutional challenge to it," Heyneke said in a statement.
The organization called for the Bill to be amended, due to concerns that it would not improve road safety, it is logistically cumbersome to the point of being potentially unconstitutional, and paves the way for corruption.
But Heyneke said the final version of the law does not take into consideration its concerns, saying that pilot projects in Tshwane and Johannesburg using this system over the past decade failed.
Heyneke also said Outa was concerned that the new Act will be used to force Gauteng motorists to pay e-tolls, by making it an offence to ignore road signs which could include those listing e-toll charges.
"The focus should be on road safety, not on an administratively complicated system aimed at collecting revenue," Heyneke said.
"We need solutions on road safety, but this isn’t one of them. We want to see a workable law."
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
ESAB South Arica, the leading supplier of high-end welding and cutting products to the Southern African industrial market is based in...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
