Question NW337 to the Minister of Transport

Reply:

1. Yes, the Minister and the Department of Transport did share information with provincial governments about the implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, 1998 (Act No 46 of 1998)

(a) Minister of Transport through the Entity issued a Letter “LINKING OF SAPS OFFICERS TO ISSUING AUTHORITIES” dated 14 January 2021. The substance of the correspondence clarified the linking of the SAPS to the local traffic authorities.

The Minister of Transport issued a circular on “AARTO ROLL-OUT FROM 01 JULY 2021” as pronounced. The aforesaid circular is dated 9 July 2021. Was forwarded to all provinces.

The Minister further through the Entity facilitated virtual meetings with the all provinces regarding the AARTO Rollout. The engagements further presented the following:

• AARTO Master Implementation Plan;
• AARTO Readiness assessments;
• System Deployments and NaTIS Connectivity;
• AARTO Training for Law Enforcement & Back-Office Staff;
• AARTO Service outlets to be deployed per province;
• Signing of MoU’s between stakeholders to give effect to the rollout;

(SAPO & GPW issues)

• AARTO Education and Awareness Campaigns;
• Monitoring & Evaluation of the AARTO Implementation.

The virtual consultation dates with provinces were as followed:

Schedule of AARTO Meetings with HoDs in Provinces

Province	Meeting Date
Eastern Cape	09 March 2021
Mpumalanga	16 March 2021
North West	16 March 2021
Free State	17 March 2021
Limpopo	30 March 2021
KZN	19 April 2021
NC & WC	No confirmation of availability was received as requested
Gauteng	Currently implementing AARTO

August 2021 schedule of meetings held with Provincial Management

Province	Date
MP	17 August 2021
LP	17 August 2021
WC	19 August 2021
EC	19 August 2021
KZN	19 August 2021
GP	20 August 2021
NC	20 August 2021
FS	20 August 2021
NW	25 August 2021

September 2021 schedule of meetings held with Provincial Management

PROVINCE	DATE
FS	02 September 2021
GP	08 September 2021
MP	13 September 2021
LP	13 September 2021
WC	14 September 2021
EC	14 September 2021
KZN	14 September 2021
NC	16 September 2021
NW	16 September 2021

(b) The Minister & the Department of Transport have established an AARTO National Steering Committee (ANSC) that convenes quarterly for AARTO Stakeholders to engage on matters of mutual interest in the implementation of AARTO. The ANSC is preceded by technical support committees before the main committee could convene. The following are dates and issues deliberated upon in the ANSC:

ITEM	DATE
ANSC	28 January 2021
ANSC	29 March 2021
ANSC	11 June 2021
Special ANSC	14 July 2021
ANSC	24 August 2021
ANSC	28 September 2021
ANSC	17 February 2022

ANSC Issues:

The following are standard agenda items discussed at the ANSC:

• Feedback on Executive Directives & Shareholder Engagements
• AMIP/ Draft AARTO roll out plan and related updates
• AARTO IT equipment deployment report
• System enhancement update
• Technical support committee reports
• Municipal Monitoring and Oversight Sub-Committee/ SALGA Engagements
• Provincial AARTO Coordinating Committee meeting feedbacks

2. The Minister & the Department through its Entity received the following substantive responses from the Western Cape in response to information shared, all stating that the province will not be ready to implement of AARTO by 01 October 2021and further raised the following concerns:

2.1. The RTIA Capacity to implement AARTO

2.2. Lack of meaningful consultation;

2.3 The issues around the AARTO Regulations and the need to review AARTO legislation;

2.4. Delays in Training;

2.5. The challenges around the successful rates of representations;

2.6. Transparency in reporting; and

2.7. Absence of an implementation report in the two jurisdictions where AARTO was piloted.

2.8 The province further requested the Entity, the RTMC and the Department to accommodate the e-force interface for the province since the province was already using smart law enforcement, which request is still under discussions;