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Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) has recently become aware of the fact that the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport is calling for submissions from members of the public and other interested stakeholders regarding the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Bill, 2015 which was originally published for public comment on 20 February 2013 and subsequently on 28 June 2013.

The closing date for submissions thereon was 28 July 2013 and since then, no further calls for public comment have been published in any government gazette.

On 12 November 2015, a notification of the intention to introduce the AARTO Amendment Bill, 2015 into Parliament was published by the Minister of Transport in government gazette 39395 and then, on 30 November 2015, the AARTO Amendment Bill, 2015 itself was published.

This Bill must not be confused with the publications for public comment on draft amendments to the AARTO Regulations which have also been published from time to time, including but not limited to those draft amendments which contemplate e-tolls.

In light of the fact that the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport is now calling for submissions and has stated that it has extended its deadline therefor to 31 August 2016, JPSA will of course be submitting a comprehensive submission thereon since it has been one of the front-running stakeholders involved in submissions on the AARTO Act and its Regulations, as well as all other road traffic legislation from the onset of the promulgation of the AARTO Act in the Cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Our submission will primarily be made on behalf of our members but it is unavoidable that it will also largely represent the interests of the wider motoring public at large since we cannot imagine that many other motorists would have dramatically materially different interests to our members. We have also earlier made an application to address the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport on this Bill and are awaiting their reply.

Once we have completed our submission, it will be sent to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and it will also be published online at our website in the interests of the total transparency JPSA holds dear. We envisage that this will take place at some time close to the closing date of 31 August, due to the fact that JPSA never shoots from the hip and wishes to make its submission as comprehensive as possible.

JPSA also wishes to encourage members of the public to download the AARTO Amendment Bill, 2015, contemplate its contents and make their own submissions to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport.

The Bill can be downloaded from the SA Government website here and written submissions sent to Ms Valerie Carelse on vcarelse@parliament.gov.za or 021 403 3272.

Issued by Justice Project South Africa