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By Georgina Crouth 
8h ago
It’s enough to make the blood boil – after hours in the Covid queue, waiting to renew your vehicle or driver’s license, you’re one step away from the receipt, only to be told it can’t be done until you’ve paid for the pending fines.
The Undoing Tax Abuse Organization (Outa) warned motorists to verify outstanding fines and execution warrants before renewing their licenses. Not just to avoid the impact of invoices at licensing centers, but to give yourself the opportunity to challenge those enforcement orders.
Outa says that while unpaid traffic tickets prevent motorists from renewing their licenses, the Road Traffic Infractions Agency (RTIA) is not following the Road Traffic Offenses Administrative Adjudication (Aarto) law once again.
In 2017, the agency lost a court case against Fines4U for failing to follow the correct procedure in collecting outstanding traffic tickets. The court found the RTIA to be in violation of Aarto and forced the RTIA to reverse thousands of fines in Gauteng.
Now, Outa says that numerous motorists have complained of receiving SMS informing them that they have outstanding execution warrants that will prevent them from renewing their vehicle or their driver’s licenses, and in many cases, they were not aware of these unpaid fines.
Outa’s legal director, Stefanie Fick, says they discovered that the agency had issued execution warrants and missed a crucial step in the Aarto Act. “It remains a mystery whether the RTIA’s failure to comply with its process is due to capacity limitations or malicious collection practices,” says Fick, adding, “Is it just about making money?”
Once a motorist receives a ticket for a traffic violation, the processes must be followed. Fick says the violator must receive a violation notice to inform him of the crime, which must contain all relevant information, including that he has 32 days to act on it, either by paying it or contesting the fine.
If they fail to act within the stipulated time frame, the RTIA must issue and deliver a courtesy letter to the offender.
The purpose of this courtesy letter, explains Fick, is to ensure that the offender is aware of the violation and the consequences of the violation.
“When there is no courtesy letter, the RTIA has deprived the violator of the opportunity to comply with a notice of violation, resulting in a more serious consequence: a warrant of execution. If this is the case, it means that the RTIA has not followed its own process. “
If that courtesy letter has not been sent, the execution order may not be enforceable and potentially can be overturned in court.
But voiding a faulty enforcement order takes time and money, so the alleged violator should not bear the burden when the “administrative failure is the result of the RTIA’s own conduct.”
“Considering the state of our judicial system under various Covid-19 regulations, choosing to have the matter resolved in court is not something everyone may be in the mood for.”
She says the agency is not following its own processes. “You go through all the gibberish to renew your license, but then they tell you that you have a compliance order and you can’t renew. Most of us are law-abiding – don’t try to catch us like this. “
The RTIA has denied issuing orders outside the legal deadline. Agency spokesman Emmanuel Tshehla says that these orders should be issued when the registrar is satisfied that, among other things, “a period of at least 32 days has elapsed since a notice of failed result of a representation or a courtesy letter ”. .
Accordingly, RTIA can confirm that by issuing enforcement orders, the agency is acting within the parameters of the law. The agency ensures that when issuing enforcement orders, all mandatory requirements described in section 20 (2) are met, including the fact that a minimum period of 32 days has been served from the date on which the issues an unsuccessful proxy notice or courtesy letter. approved before execution orders can be issued. “
The agency, Tshehla says, issues all execution orders after a prescribed period has elapsed and “none of those execution orders is void for compliance with the letter of the law.”
“It is the RTIA’s responsibility to issue courtesy letters and enforcement orders if elective options are not exercised, regardless of the type of violation. Members of the public are encouraged to visit www.aarto.gov.za to verify their traffic tickets, or to call our call center: 0861227861 ”.
Under the Aarto Law, motorists can:
* Make a representation to dispute a traffic violation.
* Nominate a new driver.
* Request the revocation of an execution order.
* Organize the payment of infractions in installments.
* Choose to be tried in court.
Motorists should be aware that they cannot be prevented from renewing their licenses due to outstanding fines or violation notices, only if there is a warrant for execution.
“Check beforehand, take some time so you can request a revocation,” advises Fick.
To check for warrants or to dispute them, visit Aarto’s website (www.aarto.gov.za). Request proof that you were duly served, either by personal service or by certified mail.
You can also request the revocation of an execution order if the legal process was not followed, through organizations like Fines4U.
But here’s the catch: drivers need to make sure their data is up to date in eNatis. And even if you never receive the notice by certified mail or in your hands, as long as it was delivered to the correct address, that service remains.
The draft of the Aarto regulations was republished on October 2 for public comment. Comments can be sent to [email protected] within 60 days of posting.
* Georgina Crouth is a consumer watchdog with a big bite. Write to him [email protected], Tweet @georginacrouth and follow her on Facebook.
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