At the beginning of July, it was confirmed the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act would be implemented with immediate effect, making use of a phased in approach. The first stage started in July and involved the finalisation of various administrative processes.
The second phase started at the beginning of this month. During this phase 67 municipalities began implementing the Act, however, it is only from 1 July 2022 that demerit points will be introduced. On 1 January 2022, AARTO will be implemented in the rest of South Africa’s municipalities.
While there might still be some resistance to the implementation of AARTO, it cannot be denied that by 1 July 2022 – should there be no unforeseen delays – company drivers will start losing demerit points and face the possible loss of their licence should they continue to break the law during their daily travels.
Business owners and fleet managers, however, should see the phased in approach as an advantage. It provides time for companies to start preparing for the Act because along with the need to rectify bad driving behaviours comes a considerable amount of administrative preparation and upskilling in what is required of a company to be completely ready for the full implementation by 1 July 2022.
MasterDrive is providing assistance to such companies with a virtual training session for fleet managers and those involved in managing the administrative requirements that come with AARTO.
This virtual session will take place on 3 November 2021. If you are interested in joining the session, please contact us by emailing [email protected] or by calling 086 110 0618. Spaces are filling up quickly, so do not delay!