Pretoria - The controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act is proving so unaffordable for the Johannesburg Metro police that the city is even considering suspending traffic law enforcement.
Postage amounting to R10m a month, a R98m claim and a 63% (R145m) fall in annual income from traffic fines have plagued Johannesburg.
The possibility of suspending traffic-law enforcement has been mooted in a report on the financial implications of Aarto to be presented to the city's mayoral committee in two weeks’ time.
Aarto is expected to come into force countrywide on April 1 next year. If the problems that the Johannesburg Metro police are struggling with are not resolved, similar financial problems could afflict other municipalities.
In the previous year Johannesburg’s traffic-fine income was R145m below budget.
This was, according to Gerrie Gerneke, head of licensing and prosecution, caused by the malfunctioning of Aarto and deficiencies at the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA).
The agency, which falls under the national department of transport, is responsible for a large part of the administration of Aarto traffic fines.
But after April 1 things deteriorated when the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) decided that Johannesburg had to pay the postage for fine notifications itself, amounting to around R10m a month.
Before Aarto came into force, Johannesburg sent its fines by ordinary post.
But the Aarto act prescribes that this should be done by registered post, which inflates the price by about R15 per notification.
Not even 80% of the fines sent at great expense by registered post are fetched from the Post Office, according to the report.
As if this were not bad enough, Johannesburg and the RTMC are at loggerheads over R98m in fine income that Johannesburg has received, which was apparently owing to it, but which is being claimed by the RTMC.
Gerneke responded to questions from Sake24 saying that the dispute involved incompatible software.
Johannesburg developed its own software because of shortcomings in the eNatis computer system.
But Sake24 established that the dispute fundamentally concerned the so-called Aarto clock.
In terms of the Aarto act offenders get 50% discount if they pay a fine within 32 days. This money is due to the issuing authority, in this case Johannesburg.
If the fine is paid after the 32 days have expired the offender has to pay more.
The issuing authority then still gets the 50%, but the rest of the money goes to the RTMC.
Sake24 has established that Johannesburg’s argument is that the 32 days have not begun if the offender has not, as required by law, personally signed receipt for the notification. The signature is apparently the action that sets the Aarto clock in motion.
Therefore all the money paid belongs to Johannesburg.
- Sake24.com
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