How to get a traffic warrant of arrest cancelled

You get a traffic warrant of arrest cancelled by going to the court that issued it. Not by phoning a call centre, not by paying the original fine online, and not by waiting for it to lapse. (Some warrants are endorsed with an admission of guilt amount under section 55(2A) of the Criminal Procedure Act, and paying that amount does deal with the matter, as a deemed conviction; check the warrant or ask the court.) You go in, during office hours, voluntarily, you ask at the criminal records or warrants counter, you explain why you did not appear, and you arrange a new court date. The explanation is often put on affidavit.

That is the whole route in one paragraph. Everything below is the detail that makes it go smoothly.

First, confirm you actually have a warrant

Two systems run in parallel, and only one of them produces warrants.

Where the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act 46 of 1998 (the AARTO Act) applies, minor traffic offences are administrative "infringements" handled by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency. An infringement you ignore ends in an enforcement order, which blocks the renewal of a driving licence, a professional driving permit or a vehicle licence disc. It is not a warrant, and there is nothing for a court to cancel. As at October 2026 AARTO applies in Johannesburg, Tshwane and about 60 further municipalities added on 1 July 2026, in every province except the Western Cape, and since 1 July 2026 the amended Act no longer provides for a warrant of execution on an unpaid enforcement order either. See what is an enforcement order under AARTO.

Where the AARTO Act does not apply, and for serious offences everywhere, traffic offences are criminal matters prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, with the rules of the road coming from the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996. Here a summons requires you to appear in court on a date. If you do not appear, the court can issue a warrant of arrest for the failure to appear. That is what this guide is about.

So before you go anywhere, establish which one you are dealing with. Phone the issuing authority named on the notice, or the municipal traffic department for the area, and ask for the status of everything against your name and your vehicle registration. If a summons was issued, ask which court it went to and for the case number.

How to get it cancelled, step by step

1. Identify the court. You need the court that issued the warrant, plus the case number if you can get it. The issuing authority or traffic department can usually tell you.
2. Go early, on a weekday. Courts get busy. Being there when the doors open is the difference between one morning and a wasted day.
3. Go in person and voluntarily. This matters more than anything else. A person who walks in is treated very differently from a person brought in on the warrant.
4. Ask at the right counter. Say plainly: "There is a warrant of arrest against me for failing to appear on a traffic matter. I have come to deal with it." Ask for the warrants or criminal records office.
5. Explain the failure to appear. Honestly and briefly. The most common truthful explanations are that the summons went to an old address, that you were in hospital, that you were working out of town, or that you simply did not understand what the notice was.
6. Put it on affidavit if asked. A short sworn statement setting out who you are, the case number, the date you were meant to appear, why you did not, and that you are now ready to attend. Have it commissioned by a commissioner of oaths.
7. Take the new date. The warrant is dealt with and a fresh court date is set for the underlying matter, which is still there.
8. Attend that date. Without fail. A second failure to appear is far harder to explain than a first.

Note the sequence. Cancelling the warrant does not make the traffic charge disappear. It moves you from being a person the police can arrest to being a person with a court date.

Consider taking someone with you

You do not need an attorney to walk into a court building. But if the underlying charge is serious, if you have missed more than one date, or if there is more than one warrant, having a legal representative with you changes how the morning goes and how the explanation is presented. That decision belongs to the seriousness of the charge, not to the warrant itself. See what does a traffic attorney cost.

A worked example

The names and facts here are illustrative only and are not a prediction of what will happen in your matter.

Anele is stopped at a routine roadblock and the officer mentions there is something on the system against her name. She is not arrested that day, but she goes home rattled.

She phones the municipal traffic department the next morning with her identity number and her vehicle registration. They confirm a summons was issued two years ago on a traffic matter, that it went to her mother's address where her car was registered at the time, and that a warrant was issued when she did not appear. They give her the court and the case number.

She takes a day off. She goes to the court at eight in the morning with her identity document, her driving licence, the vehicle registration certificate, proof of her current address, and a short affidavit commissioned at her local police station the day before. It says who she is, gives the case number and the date she was meant to appear, states that the summons went to an address she had left and that she never received it, and says she is ready to attend court.

She waits most of the morning. The warrant is dealt with and she is given a new date, which she attends.

The contrast is worth sitting with. Had she waited, the same warrant could have been executed on a Friday evening, and the difference between a morning of queueing and a weekend in custody is entirely about who moved first.

What to do this week

1. Find out what is outstanding. Phone the issuing authority and the traffic department for every area where you have driven and been stopped.
2. Sort each item into a system. AARTO infringement, or criminal matter with a court date.
3. Get the court and the case number for anything that became a summons.
4. Draft your explanation in three or four honest sentences, and have it commissioned as an affidavit.
5. Take a morning off and go in. Do not send a family member with your identity document. Go yourself.
6. Update your address on your vehicle registration and driving licence before you leave the licensing office next.
7. Diarise the new court date the moment you get it, with a reminder a week before.

Documents to gather

Your identity document, your driving licence, the vehicle registration certificate, proof of your current address such as a utility bill or lease, the original notice or summons if you still have it, the case number, your commissioned affidavit explaining the failure to appear, proof of anything you rely on in that affidavit such as a hospital record or a letter from an employer confirming you were working away, any proof of payment on the underlying matter, and a pen and a notebook. Take copies of everything and keep the originals.

Realistic timeline

These are ranges based on how the process is structured. Your court, its volumes, and how complete your paperwork is all move the numbers.

Common mistakes and what they cost

• Waiting for it to expire. Warrants do not quietly lapse. People are commonly stopped on warrants that are years old.
• Paying the original fine online and assuming that ends it. The warrant is for failing to appear, which is a separate problem from the money. The exception is a warrant endorsed with an admission of guilt amount: paying that specific amount disposes of the matter, but it counts as a conviction.
• Going to the wrong court. The file sits at the court that issued the warrant. Anywhere else and you have lost a day.
• Arriving with nothing. No identity document, no case number, no address proof, no affidavit. You will be sent home.
• Arriving at lunchtime. Go at opening.
• Being creative in the affidavit. Say what is true. A false statement under oath is a serious matter on its own.
• Missing the new date too. A second failure to appear is much harder to explain and can land you straight back on a warrant.
• Ignoring the others. Deal with every outstanding matter in one visit if you can. See what happens if you ignore a traffic fine.

If you cannot afford an attorney

Most traffic matters can be handled yourself, and this one usually can.

Going to the court counter and asking how to deal with a warrant costs nothing. Clerks handle this every day and they will tell you what they need. Having an affidavit commissioned at a police station is free. Representations to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency cost nothing to lodge where your matter is an AARTO infringement, with a R100 fee only if they are refused. In a criminal matter you may appear in court yourself. And the issuing authority can be approached directly to check the status of a matter or arrange payment.

Get help where the underlying charge is the problem rather than the warrant. If the charge carries a real risk of a criminal record or imprisonment, and drunk driving does, that is a matter for a legal representative. Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 applies a means test and takes criminal matters. Ask about it at the court on the day. See the legal aid page and what happens if you are caught drinking and driving.

If you are arrested before you get there, section 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 sets out the rights of arrested, detained and accused persons, including the right to remain silent, to be told why you are being arrested, to consult a legal practitioner, and to be brought before a court within the period the law allows.

Frequently asked questions

People ask whether they will be arrested the moment they walk into the court building. Going in voluntarily is the expected way to deal with a warrant, but nobody can guarantee what happens on any given day, which is why it is worth going early, with your paperwork in order, and with someone who can help if the charge is serious. People ask whether an attorney can deal with it without them, and generally the person named on the warrant needs to be present. And people ask whether an old warrant can simply be paid off. It cannot, because the warrant is about a missed appearance rather than an unpaid amount.

LawMatch is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.