What is AARTO and how does it work?

AARTO is the administrative system for dealing with minor traffic offences. It comes from the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act 46 of 1998, usually called the AARTO Act. Where the Act applies, a minor traffic offence is not a crime prosecuted by the State. It is an "infringement" decided by an administrative body, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, using paperwork rather than a courtroom.

The idea is simple. Ordinary speeding, a missed stop sign, an expired licence disc and similar matters clog up criminal courts for no good reason. AARTO takes them out of the courts and gives them a paper process with fixed penalties, a discount for paying early, and a written way to object.

Two systems run at the same time

This is the part most people get wrong, so read it slowly.

Where the AARTO Act applies, minor offences are infringements handled by the Agency. Everywhere else, and for serious offences everywhere, a traffic offence is a criminal matter prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. It starts with a written notice to appear or a summons, and it goes to the magistrates' court. The driving rules you are accused of breaking come from the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996 in both systems.

So check which notice you are actually holding. An AARTO infringement notice uses the word "infringement", names the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, gives an infringement notice number, and lists options including representations, driver nomination and instalments. A Criminal Procedure Act notice names a court, gives a court date and a case number, and states an admission of guilt amount. The two look different and lead to completely different processes. Reading the wrong one as the other is how people miss court dates.

Serious matters, such as reckless driving and driving under the influence, are not infringements. They go to court wherever you are.

Where AARTO applies is a matter of proclamation, and it has changed. As at October 2026, it has run as a pilot in Johannesburg and Tshwane since 2008 and was extended on 1 July 2026 to about 60 further municipalities, 62 in all, covering every province except the Western Cape. The same proclamations brought the AARTO Amendment Act 4 of 2019 into force in all 62, which changed the procedure described below. Our guide on which traffic fine system applies where you live has the detail.

How the AARTO process works, step by step

1. An infringement notice is issued. At the roadside by an officer, or by post to the registered owner of the vehicle after a camera detects something. The notice sets out what is alleged, where and when, the amount payable, and your options.
2. A discount applies for early payment. Under the AARTO Regulations, 2026, published on 30 June 2026, the discount is 50% if you pay within 32 days of service. The amount for each infringement is set out in Schedule 3 to those regulations and on the notice itself, so use your own notice rather than a figure you were told.
3. You choose an option within 32 days. Pay, make representations to the Agency asking for the infringement to be cancelled, nominate the person who was actually driving, or apply to pay in instalments. The old option of electing to be tried in court was repealed by the Amendment Act and is not available on notices issued under it.
4. Representations are decided. A representations officer at the Agency reads what you submitted and decides. If the representation fails, you are told why, a R100 representations fee is added, and you either pay within 32 days (still at the discount if you made the representation within the first 32 days) or take the decision on appeal or review to the AARTO Appeals Tribunal within 30 days of receiving the reasons. A Tribunal decision can in turn be taken to a magistrates' court within 30 days.
5. If nothing happens, a courtesy letter follows. It repeats the infringement, the discount falls away and a R100 fee is added. This is the system's last soft nudge.
6. Then an enforcement order. An enforcement order is the serious step, and it adds a further R100. While it stands, it can block the renewal of your driving licence, your professional driving permit or your vehicle licence disc. You cannot simply pay the licence fee and move on.
7. Then the block stays. The Amendment Act repealed the old warrant of execution, so an enforcement order now works by blocking licence transactions until the penalty and fees are paid or the order is revoked, and the penalty does not prescribe. See what is an enforcement order under AARTO.

Demerit points: legislated, but not something to assume

The AARTO Act also provides for a demerit points system. Points would attach to infringements, a licence would be suspended once points pass the threshold set in the Act, points would reduce over time if no further infringements were recorded, and repeated suspensions could lead to cancellation.

That is the design. As at October 2026, sections 24 to 28 of the Act, which create the points system, have not been brought into operation anywhere: the proclamations that took effect on 1 July 2026 expressly left them out, and the national start has been postponed more than once. Do not assume it is running today, and do not plan around a start date you read somewhere. Confirm the current position with the Road Traffic Infringement Agency before you rely on it. See how do demerit points work in South Africa.

A worked example

The figures are illustrative only.

Lerato receives an AARTO infringement notice by post for a camera offence. The notice shows R1 000 payable, reduced to R500 if she pays within the period on the notice. She was not driving. Her brother had the car that weekend.

She has three sensible choices. She can pay R500 and be done, which is quick but records the infringement against her. She can nominate her brother as the driver, which requires an affidavit identifying him and his licence details, after which the notice is redirected to him. Or she can make representations if she has grounds to say the notice is wrong.

She nominates her brother. Six weeks later the Agency confirms the redirection and he receives his own notice.

Her colleague Pieter gets an identical notice, puts it in the glove box, and forgets. Four months later a courtesy letter arrives with the original amount plus an added fee. He ignores that too. An enforcement order follows. He discovers it a year later at the licensing office when his disc renewal is blocked, and now he must deal with the order before he can drive a licensed vehicle. Same notice, very different year.

What to do this week

1. Find every notice you have and lay them out. Note each infringement notice number, the date, and the deadline.
2. Check which Act each notice was issued under, and diarise any court date separately and prominently.
3. Decide an option for each notice: pay, represent, nominate, or instalments.
4. Nominate promptly if you were not the driver. Nomination gets harder the longer you leave it.
5. Submit and keep proof of everything, with reference numbers.
6. Check for outstanding matters against your name and your vehicle before your next licence renewal.

Documents to gather

• The notice itself and its infringement notice number, photographed front and back.
• Proof of your address, since notices are served on the address in the vehicle and licence records.
• The vehicle licence papers and registration certificate, showing the registered owner and from what date.
• Photographs of the vehicle, the scene, the signage or anything that supports your version.
• An affidavit where one is needed, signed before a commissioner of oaths. Driver nomination needs one.
• A copy of everything you send and proof that you sent it.

Realistic timeline

• Camera infringement notice: usually arrives some weeks after the alleged offence.
• Discount period: as stated on the notice.
• Representations outcome: allow several weeks to a few months.
• Driver nomination processed: often a month or two.
• Courtesy letter: months after a notice is neglected.
• Enforcement order: after the courtesy letter is also neglected. It then sits there until dealt with, which is why people meet it years later at a licence counter.

Common mistakes and what they cost

• Treating an AARTO notice like a suggestion. Added fees, then an enforcement order, then a blocked licence renewal at the worst possible time.
• Confusing an infringement notice with a court summons. Sending representations about a summons means you miss a court date, and a warrant of arrest can follow.
• Paying a camera fine that belonged to someone else. You lose the money and the record sits against your name.
• Leaving a nomination too late. The window is limited and the affidavit takes time to arrange.
• Not updating your address on the vehicle and licence records after you move. Notices are validly served on the address on record.
• Assuming AARTO applies everywhere. It does not, and where it does not, the criminal route applies with all its consequences.

Your rights against the Agency's powers

You have the right to a notice that tells you what is alleged, where, when and what you may do about it. You may make representations without paying anything up front, take a refused representation to the AARTO Appeals Tribunal and from there to a magistrates' court, nominate the actual driver where the vehicle owner was not driving, and apply to pay in instalments. You may ask the Agency for the status of your matter using your notice number.

The Agency and issuing authorities have the power to issue infringement notices on the evidence available, including camera evidence, to serve them on the registered owner of the vehicle, to charge the amounts set in the regulations, to refuse unsupported representations, to add a fee at the courtesy letter stage, and to issue an enforcement order that blocks licence transactions. What they cannot do is convert an administrative infringement into a criminal conviction without a court, or refuse to consider representations that were properly submitted in time.

If you cannot afford an attorney

You almost certainly do not need one for an ordinary infringement. Representations to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency are made by you, on the Agency's own form, and cost nothing unless they are rejected. An appeal to the Appeals Tribunal is also made on a prescribed form, with a R200 fee under the 2026 regulations, and unrepresented people can manage it. You can also approach the issuing authority directly with your documents where the notice is plainly wrong.

Where a matter carries a real risk of a criminal record or of imprisonment, such as reckless or negligent driving, driving under the influence, or an existing warrant, get proper help. Legal Aid South Africa is on 0800 110 110 and applies a means test. For what private help costs, see what traffic and AARTO matters cost.

Frequently asked questions

The most common question is whether AARTO replaced the courts. It did not. It moved minor matters out of them where it applies, and serious matters still go to court everywhere. The second is whether an infringement gives you a criminal record. An infringement dealt with administratively is not a criminal conviction, but paying an admission of guilt on a Criminal Procedure Act notice is a different thing entirely. The third is whether the demerit points are running. Treat that as an open question and confirm it with the Agency rather than assuming either way.