Aarto Declared Invalid And Unconstitutional

The Pretoria High Court has declared the Aarto Amendment Act, on which the planned demerit system for traffic offences is based, unconstitutional and invalid.

The court delivered its ruling on the constitutionality of the Aarto Act on Thursday morning.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) challenged the constitutional validity of the Act and asked the court in October 2021 to declare both the main Act and the amendment Act unconstitutional.

Judge Annali Basson found in favour of Outa and agreed with its position.

Outa’s Wayne Duvenhage: “For several years now we’ve tried to engage with the authorities and making sure that the various amendments and changes are constitutional, practical and workable but true to form they have ignored our input and not participated meaningfully with civil society, which left us no alternative but to go to court and have it stopped in its tracks. We’re very pleased with the judge’s ruling. It now sends government back to the drawing board on what has become quite a mess.”

The court directed the Minister of Transport and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) to pay Outa’s costs.