Stop the unconstitutional AARTO Act and its Amendment Bill

Traffic fines don't really bother many people because very few people pay them anyway, and those who do regard them as minor annoyances.

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences ("AARTO") Act will change this because it has inbuilt mechanisms to force payment. In direct conflict with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 ("the Constitution"), it presumes the person or entity a fine is issued against to be guilty, until he, she or it succeeds in proving otherwise.

You need to know that demerit-points are applied to your driving licence (or operator card) whether you pay the fine or not, unless you succeed in proving yourself innocent.

The AARTO Amendment Bill takes this to a whole new level, by removing your right to elect to be tried in court, and replacing it with a series of tedious and costly, time-sensitive procedures - designed to keep traffic infringements out of the courts and remove the need for authorities to prove your guilt.

Furthermore, the AARTO Act brings with it a points-demerit system which, in its current form allows your driving licence to be suspended or cancelled, whether you pay or fail to pay a traffic fine. If you were not the driver, and fail to nominate the driver within 32 days, tough luck. You will incur the demerit-points on your driving licence.

I (Howard Dembovsky) have already (in April 2018), launched a comprehensive legal challenge regarding the constitutionality of numerous provisions of the AARTO Act as it stands - before the Amendment Bill is signed into law. The vast majority of those defects are not cured by the Amendment Bill. In fact, they are significantly aggravated.

The AARTO Act must be stopped now, before it is amended and rolled out nationally. Don't think that other organisations have this matter in hand. They don't - no matter how much they try to convince you they do.

If you need more information, visit www.aarto.co.za for full details regarding why the AARTO Act must be stopped.

Please get involved in funding the very expensive litigation that must be used to stop this atrocity. No donation is too big or too small.