How to nominate the driver of a fined vehicle

A camera does not see who is driving. It sees a number plate. So the fine is issued to the registered owner of the vehicle, and the notice arrives with your name on it whether or not you were behind the wheel.

If someone else was driving, you can nominate them. On an AARTO infringement notice that means completing form AARTO 07, which identifies the actual driver in full, within 32 days of service. On a Criminal Procedure Act notice it usually means a sworn affidavit with the same details. Do it late and the fine stays yours.

First, work out which system your notice is in

Two systems run in parallel in South Africa and they handle a nomination differently.

Where the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act 46 of 1998 (the AARTO Act) applies, minor offences are administrative "infringements" handled by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency. The notice itself sets out your options, and nominating the driver is one of them. 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. Under regulation 6 of the AARTO Regulations, 2026, the nomination is made on form AARTO 07, completed in full in black ink and signed by you, with a legible copy of the nominated driver's identification attached. It is a signed declaration rather than an affidavit, and on it you also confirm whether the driver consented to you giving their personal details. It can be submitted to an issuing authority, to the RTIA or on the AARTO website, and fleet operators registered for it can nominate by electronic data exchange. The form states that nomination is not available once a courtesy letter has been issued. If the nomination succeeds, your notice is cancelled and a new one may be issued to the driver; if the details are wrong or the driver shows they were not driving, it fails and the notice stays with you. Ignore it altogether and the process runs on to an enforcement order rather than a warrant. See what is an enforcement order under AARTO.

Elsewhere, and for serious offences everywhere, traffic offences are prosecuted as crimes under the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, with the rules of the road coming from the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996. There, redirecting a notice is handled by the issuing authority and, if it goes further, by a court. If you do nothing and a summons is issued and you do not appear, a warrant of arrest can follow.

The practical answer to which system you are in is on the paper. An AARTO infringement notice names the Road Traffic Infringement Agency and uses the word infringement. A criminal notice names a court and, eventually, a date. Check before you write anything, because the address you send it to differs.

How the nomination works, step by step

1. Read the notice properly. Find the notice number, the date, the offence, the vehicle registration, the place, the time, and the deadline for responding. The deadline is the part people miss.
2. Identify the driver with certainty. Not "probably my brother". Actually know.
3. Get the driver's details in full. Full names as they appear on the identity document, identity number, driving licence number, and residential and postal address.
4. Tell the driver. They are about to receive a notice in their own name. Springing this on a colleague after the fact goes badly.
5. Complete the AARTO 07 form, or draft the affidavit. For an AARTO notice, fill in every part of AARTO 07 and sign it. For a Criminal Procedure Act notice, a short sworn statement is enough: who you are, that you are the registered owner, the notice number and date, that you were not the driver, who was, their full details, and why you know it was them.
6. Have any affidavit commissioned. Sign it in front of a commissioner of oaths. Police stations, many post offices, attorneys and some bank branches commission affidavits at no charge.
7. Attach the supporting documents. A legible copy of the driver's identity document, which the AARTO 07 form requires, and copies of your identity document, the vehicle registration certificate and the notice.
8. Submit it before the deadline, to the address or channel the notice specifies, and keep proof that you sent it.
9. Follow up. Confirm in writing that the nomination was received and that the notice has been redirected. Do not assume silence means success.

What goes in the affidavit

This section is about the affidavit used on a Criminal Procedure Act notice, and about the facts you need for the AARTO 07 form. Keep it short and factual. A commissioner of oaths is witnessing your signature, not checking your grammar.

Include: your full names and identity number, your address, that you are the registered owner of the vehicle and its registration number, the notice number and the date of the alleged offence, a plain statement that you were not the driver at that time, the full names, identity number, driving licence number and address of the person who was, and how you know. "The vehicle is a company pool vehicle and the logbook records that Mr X signed it out from 06:00 to 18:00 on that day" is far stronger than "I lent it to someone".

Do not editorialise. Do not argue the speed reading in the same document. If you want to dispute the offence itself, that is a separate route. See how to dispute a traffic fine in South Africa.

A worked example

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

Nomsa owns a small plumbing business with three bakkies registered in her name. A camera fine arrives naming one of the bakkies for speeding on a Tuesday morning on a route her team uses near George. The Western Cape is outside AARTO, so it is a Criminal Procedure Act notice and the nomination is made by affidavit.

She checks the job cards and the vehicle logbook. Sipho signed that bakkie out at 06:15 and returned it at 16:40. He was the only person with the keys.

Nomsa drafts a one page affidavit. She states that she is the registered owner, that she was not driving, and that Sipho was, and she gives his full names, identity number, driving licence number and home address. She attaches the logbook page, a copy of her identity document, the vehicle registration certificate and the notice. She tells Sipho the same day. She has the affidavit commissioned at her local police station on the Thursday and submits it well inside the deadline, keeping the submission receipt.

Three weeks later she phones to confirm the nomination was processed. It was. The notice is now Sipho's, and it is his to pay or dispute.

Change the facts: had the camera been in Polokwane, an AARTO municipality since 1 July 2026, Nomsa would complete form AARTO 07 instead, attach a copy of Sipho's identity document, and submit it within 32 days of service, before any courtesy letter.

Had Nomsa simply paid it to make it go away, or filed it in a drawer until the deadline passed, the offence and its consequences would have stayed attached to her name.

What to do this week

1. Diarise the deadline from the notice, today, with a reminder several days before it.
2. Check your records for who had the vehicle: logbook, job cards, calendar, fuel card slips, tracker report, messages.
3. Speak to the driver before you name them.
4. Complete form AARTO 07, or for a Criminal Procedure Act notice draft the affidavit and book a slot with a commissioner of oaths.
5. Submit it with proof, whether by the online channel, by email with a delivery receipt, or in person with a stamped copy.
6. Update your fleet or family process so the next one is easier: keep a simple logbook of who drives which vehicle and when.
7. Do not pay in the meantime. Payment is normally treated as accepting the notice.

Documents to gather

The notice itself, your identity document, your driving licence, the vehicle registration certificate showing you as registered owner, the driver's full details including identity number and licence number, any logbook, job card, tracker report or roster covering that day and time, a rental or lease agreement if the vehicle was hired out, and the commissioned affidavit. If the vehicle was sold before the date on the notice, the notification of change of ownership is the document that ends the matter for you.

Realistic timeline

These are ranges based on how the process is structured. Your issuing authority and how complete your submission is both move the numbers.

Common mistakes and what they cost

• Missing the deadline. This is the whole ball game. Late nominations are commonly refused and the notice stays in the owner's name.
• Naming someone without their identity number and licence number. An incomplete nomination cannot be processed, and by the time it comes back to you the deadline may have gone.
• Paying first and nominating afterwards. Payment is normally treated as acceptance and closes the route.
• Keeping no record of who drives the vehicle. Fleet owners who cannot prove who had the keys end up carrying every fine themselves.
• Assuming it was processed. Silence is not confirmation. Follow up in writing.
• Nominating a person who was not driving. Never do this. Making a false statement under oath is a serious matter in its own right, quite apart from the traffic offence.
• Ignoring it because "it is only a camera fine". Ignored notices do not disappear. See what happens if you ignore a traffic fine.

If you cannot afford an attorney

You almost certainly do not need one for this. A nomination is a form and an affidavit, and both are free.

Commissioning an affidavit costs nothing at a police station. Representations to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency cost nothing to lodge, with a R100 fee added only if they are rejected. And you can approach the issuing authority directly, by phone or at the counter, to ask what they need and where to send it. Most nominations are done by ordinary people without any legal help at all.

Get help where the stakes are different. If the notice relates to a serious offence that could give you a criminal record or a term of imprisonment, such as drunk driving, that is not a nomination problem, it is a criminal matter. Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 applies a means test and takes those. See the legal aid page, and what does a traffic attorney cost if you are weighing up private help.

Frequently asked questions

People ask what happens if they genuinely cannot remember who was driving. Say so honestly rather than guessing, and consider whether you want to dispute or accept the notice instead. People ask about hired and company vehicles, where the rental agreement or the fleet logbook usually answers the question directly. And people ask whether demerit points follow the nominated driver. Under the design, points attach to the person found responsible, but as at October 2026 the demerit points sections of the AARTO Act are not in force anywhere, so no points are recorded on any notice today. See how do demerit points work in South Africa.

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