Aarto blamed for 'chaos'

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Author: Cobus Coetzee

Johannesburg - Traffic authorities in Pretoria have no idea how many traffic fines are issued.

Furthermore, some fines are issued with incorrect dates, and then withdrawn. Photos which are clearly taken in daylight, state the time of the transgression as 02:00 in the morning.

These are just a few of the incongruities which Gauteng motorists have had to deal with since the commencement of the new Act on the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) in Pretoria and Johannesburg.

'Chaos'

"It's chaos and people seldom or never get answers to their questions," said René Venter, manager of Avax SA 466, which pays traffic fines on behalf of companies, on Thursday.

Avax SA 466 pays more than 15 000 fines per month on behalf of clients.

This week Venter sent 96 clients' identity numbers to traffic authorities in Pretoria, in order to find out how many traffic fines there were against their names.

"The answer was 88 fines, but I received 488 Aarto fines from the Tshwane metro council. They simply don't know how many fines they've issued," she said.

A large furniture business, for whom Venter pays fines, can't renew any of its trucks' vehicle licenses, since two orders were issued by the Tshwane metro council, for fines which - according to them - haven't been paid.

According to Venter, the fines of R125 and R250 were paid on May 28.

Lack of staff

Venter feels the main problem is the lack of staff to handle payments of Aarto fines in the two metro councils.

"There is only one person in Pretoria who processes and records payments of Aarto fines on behalf of the metro council," said Venter.

This person works for the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) in the Tshwane metro council's traffic department.

Venter says fines are issued 60 and 90 days after the transgression, while Aarto fines must be issued within 40 days.

"The fines are illegal," she said.

On Thursday the RTMC did not want to answer questions regarding Aarto