The system was meant to begin from 1 December at 69 municipalities across the country.
One step forward and three steps back: It comes as no surprise at all that, once again, the flying circus which goes by the name of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act has been delayed.
This well-meaning piece of legislation – and its accompanying regulations – is intended to strong-arm South Africa’s reckless and incompetent motorists into improving their behaviour on our roads.
In theory, it will operate across the country, introducing uniform fines – much higher than they are currently in most cases – and a demerit points system for transgressions.
The problem is that the test-bed roll-out in Tshwane and Johannesburg was full of glitches, not least of which was the reliance on our non-existent postal service to deliver fine notices and summonses.
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Critics have also said the system for challenging fines, especially when it comes to going through the appeal process, is not only clumsy, it is totally inadequate for dealing with the number of probable challenges.
Already, Cape Town and some other municipalities – initially due to come on stream into the system on 1 December this year – have put in strong objections, possibly a major reason for the postponement until next year.
The whole edifice needs a radical rethink.
