Government determined to make AARTO work: RTIA

It was not an option to scrap the controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO), traffic authorities told Beeld newspaper in a report on Monday.

   

"The proposal to scrap AARTO is not a consideration. It is the government's duty to enforce laws and protect citizens' lives," said Road Traffic Infringement Agency spokesman Mthunzi Mbungwana.

   

He was responding to calls by opposition parties and several road traffic safety organisations on government to scrap the system plagued by administrative problems.

   

According to a report handed to Transport Minister Dipuo Peters earlier this year, Aarto fines amounting to R2 billion had not been collected during the past two financial years.

   

Aarto, which stipulates that penalty points should be imposed for certain offences and that motorists who repeatedly incur traffic violations should have their licences suspended, has thus far only been partially introduced in Johannesburg and Tshwane.

   

-Sapa