[ad_1]
In a notice issued to South African motorists through its website, the South African National Highway Agency (Sanral) states that new license discs can be withheld from drivers until their electronic toll bill is paid.
The agency confirmed that this warning appeared on the company’s website in a statement to City press, although it did not indicate whether the license disks were already being retained.
According to the owner of Fines4U, Cornelia van Niekerk, this warning is probably a step to prepare for the implementation of the Law on Administrative Adjudication of Traffic Violations (Aarto).
While these regulations have yet to be finalized, they could have a severe effect on those who do not pay electronic tolls in South Africa.
“It goes much further than that. Vehicle owners’ accounts in the government’s e-Natis system will be blocked, ”van Niekerk told City Press.
“For companies, especially fleet owners, that could be crippling.”
New traffic laws are bad news
The new traffic laws proposed in the Aarto regulations will have an effect that is too terrifying to imagine, according to the president of the Justice Project of South Africa (JPSA), Howard Dembovsky.
Dembovsky told MyBroadband last year that Aarto regulations treat traffic tickets as little more than bills, except when alleged offenders choose to stand trial under their current provisions.
“If the AARTO Amendment Act is implemented nationwide on July 1, 2021, where an emerging court further hinders access to lower courts, the injustices it will create are too terrifying to imagine,” Dembovsky said.
Of particular concern is the R100 violation penalty rate imposed on all tickets issued to drivers.
Many have argued that this proposed tax, as well as the proposed significant fines for those traveling under electronic toll gates with unpaid electronic toll bills, show that the government is putting revenue collection before road safety.
“The quiet implementation of a stealth tax of billions of rand is a scandalous addition to the regulations,” said the AA.
“We urge the Department of Transportation to eliminate it; it is neither fair nor necessary and, in our opinion, it is an example of the Traffic Infractions Agency, which AARTO administers, invading the fiscal territory of the National Treasury ”.
Plan to block car sales
Sanral has proposed blocking the renewal of vehicle licenses and even the sale of motor vehicles due to unpaid electronic tolls since 2018.
Outa Civil Action Group previously criticized those plans, stating that these suggestions were “desperate threats that will be extremely difficult to implement.”
“For Sanral to suggest that motorists’ vehicle licenses be withheld due to electronic toll debt is ridiculous and illegal.”
The impact of using coercive tactics, such as blocking vehicle license renewals or vehicle sales to force electronic tolls, will have unintended negative consequences, the group added.
“It will drag the municipalities that already have liquidity problems into the fight for electronic tolls. It will have a negative impact on local government revenue streams and police processes, ”he said.
While this may have seemed difficult to implement in 2018, the impending enactment of the Aarto regulations means that SANRAL may resort to blocking vehicle licenses as originally planned.
Now read: What makes the class action lawsuit against Uber South Africa different?
[ad_2]
