Justice Project South Africa has become aware of the fact that members of the public are being refused licence disc renewals for their vehicles and that misinformation and often outrageous explanations as to why this is happening is prolific.

This misinformation has taken various forms the latest of which is saying that the transaction is being refused on the basis of outstanding e-tolls.

For once, Mr Mona has correctly stated in his response to the article, “The required changes to enable the withholding of licence discs for e-toll debt have not been made”. This refreshing, albeit highly unusual change in his typical behaviour is most welcome.

The fact is that this legislative change will have to be published for public comment prior to enacting it and at that time, it will be vigorously challenged by JPSA.

The issue with the gentleman cited in the referenced article was resolved within minutes of him calling JPSA for clarity on Thursday 2 July.

The misinformation doing the rounds is not limited to e-tolls however and whilst some of it originates from licensing authorities who tell people that they must settle all of their traffic fines before they can get their licence disc – which is not true – counter staff at the South African Post Office tend to send motorists into a flat spin by informing them that there is a warrant of arrest out for them.

While the existence of a warrant of arrest is one of the reasons that a licence disc may be withheld, it is far from the only reason and is in fact the least common reason for this happening.

The real reasons for licence disc renewals to be lawfully and automatically refused by the eNaTIS system is one or more of the following:

• The existence of licensing arrears and penalties thereon for any vehicle, whether motorised or not registered in the name of the motorist;
• The lack of a roadworthy certificate where this is required;
• The existence of an enforcement order issued under the AARTO Act; and/or
• The existence of a warrant of arrest issued under the Criminal Procedure Act, except that this type of administrative block is more prevalent in Cape Town than anywhere else in the country.

By far, the most prolific reason for the refusal of any licensing transactions is the existence of an enforcement order issued under the AARTO Act. The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA), which previously failed to escalate infringement notices to courtesy letters and then to enforcement orders has been issuing enforcement orders at an alarming rate for at least the past four months and people who have become used to ignoring their traffic fines have found themselves falling foul of this.

The effect of an enforcement order under the AARTO Act is to block all licensing transactions, including licence disc and driving licence renewal, vehicle transfers and new vehicle registrations. The existence of a single enforcement order is sufficient to block all licensing transactions for all vehicles registered in the name of the person or entity against whom it has been issued.

While any person may make application for the revocation of an enforcement order, this process is tedious and as far as we are aware, few applications are successful.

No motorist is compelled to admit guilt by paying any traffic fine, and therefore they do not have to “settle all of their fines” before they renew their licence disc. JPSA does however encourage members of the public to deal with their traffic fines timeously and before they reach a stage where they are adversely affected.

Any traffic authority which holds that a motorist is compelled to admit guilt by paying any traffic fine needs to examine Section 35(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa which, amongst other things, holds that every accused person has the right to be presumed to be innocent until proven guilty by a properly constituted court. This is equally applicable to criminal and administrative law. It would be nice if these authorities would stick to the legislated processes instead of taking shortcuts and lying to people.

JPSA would like to urge licensing authorities, traffic departments, Metros and the South African Post Office, as well as members of the public to refrain from the highly irresponsible practice of disseminating misinformation which, in turn causes widespread confusion, flared tempers and panic.

If a member of the public is refused a licence disc renewal, they should ask their licensing authority for an eNaTIS R114 statement and look for the existence of any of the conditions we have listed. Motorists may also check for the existence of one or more enforcement orders at www.aarto.gov.za by choosing the “query my fines” option.

Issued by JPSA