Following a long period of downtime due to the national elections and the reconvening of parliament, President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed off a number of new pieces of legislation this week.
The legislation – some of which have been mooted for over a decade – will bring a number of major changes to South African workplaces, roads, and households. BusinessTech looked at three of the biggest new laws below:
Demerit system
The president has signed the controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Bill into law.
The amendment act is expected to fundamentally change driving in South Africa, with some of the biggest changes including:
Failing to pay traffic fines can lead to a block on obtaining driving and vehicle licences and an administrative fee – in addition to other penalties;
Where documents previously had to be delivered by registered mail through the post office, in terms of the amendment, authorities will now also be able to serve documents electronically and can send reminders via WhatsApp and SMS;
A new demerit system will be introduced. Depending on the severity of the offence, 1-6 points are allocated for offences. If an infringer has more than 12 points, it will result in the disqualification of the driving licence and three suspensions result in its cancellation;
The establishment of a new Appeals Tribunal which will preside over issues that are raised under the new act. Arguably the biggest change in the laws is the demerit system which aims to make South Africa’s roads safer by coming down harder on violators.
Depending on the severity of an offence, 1-6 points are allocated. If an infringer has more than 12 points, it will result in the disqualification of the driving licence and three suspensions result in its cancellation.
While the demerit system has been supported in theory, many organisations have argued that the lack of enforcement of current laws and capacity by traffic authorities means the new system will likely be ineffective in its goals.
Instead, the focus appears to be on revenue collection, the Automobile Association said, with other provisions in the act suited to making it easier for authorities to deliver fines and hold vehicle licence renewals to ransom over unpaid fines.
Civil action group Outa has said it will challenge the constitutionality of the act, adding that it fears it will be used to force motorists to pay e-toll fees in Gauteng through ‘fine print’ details like making it an offence to ignore road signs – which could include e-toll fees listed next to highways.
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Source: businesstech
