Pretoria - Authorities have put the brakes on the the roll-out of the Administrative Adjudication of the Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act to the country's four metropolitans.
The announcement comes a day before it was to be introduced in Ekurhuleni, Ethekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Cape Town.
Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Acting Chief Executive Officer Collins Letsoalo, said the Act was postponed as additional time was required to address some of the challenges.
Briefing the media on Wednesday, Letsoalo said the role of law enforcement officers in the World Cup had also prohibited preparations for the implementation of the project.
"The decision to postpone the roll-out, particularly to the metropolitan authorities, is motivated by the need to ensure effective implementation."
Aarto, which is already in place in Johannesburg and Pretoria, is a points-based demerit system whereby a driver's licence can be suspended when the driver runs out of points.
Points are deducted from a total of 12, depending on the offence.
Among the challenges identified during the pilot phase was weaknesses and loopholes in the legislative framework, the system requirements for efficient interface with various entities and uploading to the National Contraventions Register (NCR) and the online, real-time updating of the NCR as well as lack of knowledge from motorists on how the system works.
To address this, a comprehensive public media campaign and consultative programme is in process to better educate the public about the Act, said Letsoalo.
Letsoalo was adamant that Aarto would be implemented during this financial year. "The delay is just for about two or three months," he said.
On the allocation of demerit points to infringers for Pretoria and Johannesburg, he said this would only be introduced on a national basis.
Letsoalo denied that the RTMC had bowed to pressure to postpone, particularly from the Western Cape, which threatened to seek an urgent interdict to stop implementation.
"The RTMC reiterates that the decision to postpone was taken without any pressure from anyone," he said, adding that this should not be seen as a deviation towards the commitment by the Transport Ministry towards promoting road safety.
