Driver nomination affidavit

A camera photographs a number plate, not a face. That single fact explains why a fine for a road you have never driven on lands in your postbox: the notice goes to the registered owner, and the registered owner is you. This affidavit moves it to the person who was actually behind the wheel. It is a sworn statement, not a letter, and the difference runs through every line.

What this document does and when to use it

The affidavit does one narrow thing. It does not argue that the offence never happened and it does not ask anyone to be lenient. It says, under oath, that you were not driving, names the person who was, and explains how you know. Once accepted, the notice becomes theirs to pay or to dispute in their own name.

Use it when you are the registered owner and someone else had the vehicle: a company pool vehicle signed out to a staff member, a car you lent to a family member, a vehicle out on hire, or a trip on which you were the passenger.

Check which system your notice comes from before you start. If the paper names a court and a court date, or is a section 341 notice, it is a matter under the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, and this affidavit is the usual way to identify the driver. If it is an infringement notice under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act 46 of 1998 (the AARTO Act), which as at October 2026 applies in 62 municipalities in every province except the Western Cape, the nomination must be made on the prescribed form AARTO 07 under regulation 6 of the AARTO Regulations, 2026, within 32 days of service and before any courtesy letter, with a copy of the driver's identity document. This affidavit does not replace that form, although you may attach it as supporting evidence of how you know who was driving. Our guide on how to dispute a traffic fine in South Africa sets out the difference.

The rule that matters more than any of this: never name someone who was not driving. You are swearing to it. A false statement under oath is serious in its own right, separate from the traffic offence, and a far bigger problem than the fine.

Before you sign it: get these facts straight

The driver's details in full. Full names exactly as on the identity document, identity number, driving licence number, residential and postal address, contact number and email. A nomination missing any of these usually cannot be processed, and you find that out weeks later.

The record that proves it. A logbook page, a job card, a key register, a rental agreement, a tracker report. Something written at the time by somebody other than you.

The deadline on the notice, and no payment. Diarise the date today. Do not pay the fine to be safe, because payment is normally treated as accepting the notice and closes the nomination route.

A conversation with the driver. Tell them before you submit. The notice is about to arrive in their name, and paragraph 8 of the affidavit has you swear that you told them.

Your identity document, for the commissioner of oaths.

Walking through it, paragraph by paragraph

The deponent block asks for your full names as they appear on your identity document, not the version you use at work. The commissioner checks it against the document you hand over.

Paragraph 1 is the formula that turns a statement into an affidavit: that you are an adult person, and that the facts "fall within my personal knowledge and are, to the best of my belief, both true and correct". Delete the male or female option that does not apply. Do not soften this paragraph. If part of what follows is not within your personal knowledge, change that part, not this one.

Paragraph 2 describes the vehicle by registration number, make and model, colour, VIN or chassis number and engine number. Five identifiers looks excessive for a fine, and that is the point. It ties the affidavit to one vehicle and lets the reader match it against the registration certificate you attach.

Paragraph 3 records the notice: its number, the issuing authority, the alleged offence, and the date, time and place, all "as stated on the notice". Copy them character by character. A transposed digit means nobody can match your affidavit to the file.

Paragraph 4 is one flat sentence: "I was not the driver of the vehicle at that date, time and place." It is short because it is the thing you are swearing to.

Paragraph 5 identifies the driver across seven fields. Fill in every one. This is the paragraph that most often sinks a nomination, and always for the same reason: a missing licence number or a blank postal address.

Paragraph 6 is where the affidavit is won or lost. It asks you to "set out exactly how you know", and the examples show the standard: the logbook records the sign-out and return times and the driver held the only keys, or you lent the vehicle on a named date and it came back on another, or you were the passenger, or it was on hire under the attached agreement. Notice what none of those say. None says the driver usually takes that car, or that nobody else could have been driving. Usually and probably are assumptions, and you cannot swear to an assumption.

Paragraph 7 says where you were and what you were doing, and invites proof such as an employer's letter. It corroborates paragraph 4 from the other side.

Paragraph 8 records that you told the driver. Paragraph 9 lists the attachments, numbered. Paragraph 10 makes the request, that the notice be redirected to the driver named in paragraph 5, and asks for written confirmation. Put a working email in.

Paragraph 11 acknowledges that a false statement under oath is serious. Read it before you sign.

The signature line, and then the certificate. Do not sign in advance. The commissioner of oaths must watch you sign, and many refuse a pre-signed page. Below your signature is the commissioner's certificate, recording that you acknowledged you know and understand the contents, where and when you swore to it, and that the regulations were complied with. The commissioner fills in their own names, designation, business address, area of appointment and date, and applies a stamp. An affidavit with an empty certificate block or no stamp is not an affidavit. It is a letter with a signature on it.

A worked example

This example is illustrative only.

Refilwe Botha's car is registered in her name in Kimberley. Her adult son borrows it for a weekend in George, in the Western Cape, which is outside AARTO, and a section 341 speed camera notice arrives three weeks later, addressed to her.

Her paragraph 2 gives the registration, the make and model, the colour, and the VIN and engine numbers copied off the registration certificate. Paragraph 3 copies the notice number, the issuing authority, the alleged offence and the date, time and place exactly as printed.

Paragraph 6 does the work. She writes that she lent the vehicle to her son on the Friday afternoon and that it was returned on the Sunday evening, that she held the only other keys and did not drive it in that period, and that she was at home all weekend. She attaches the notice, her identity document, the registration certificate and a copy of her son's licence.

She phones him before she submits, then swears the affidavit at the local police station on her way to work, at no cost, with her identity document in hand.

Change the facts: had the camera been in Bloemfontein, an AARTO area since 1 July 2026, she would complete form AARTO 07 within 32 days of service instead, attaching a copy of her son's identity document, and could add this affidavit as supporting evidence.

The mistakes that make one of these useless

Signing at home. The commissioner must see you sign. A pre-signed affidavit is refused at the counter, or worse, accepted and later challenged.

An incomplete paragraph 5. One blank field and the nomination cannot be processed. The fine stays in your name while the deadline runs out.

A vague paragraph 6. "He normally drives that bakkie" is not personal knowledge. It reads as a guess and is treated as one.

Naming the wrong person. Whether to protect someone or because you assumed, this is the mistake with consequences well beyond the fine.

Paying the fine first. Payment normally counts as accepting the notice, and the nomination route closes behind it.

Submitting with no proof. Without a reference number, a stamped copy or a dated screenshot you cannot show you were inside the deadline.

How to submit it and prove you did

Get it commissioned first. Any police station will commission an affidavit free of charge, and many post offices, attorneys and bank branches will too. Take your identity document and the unsigned affidavit, and sign in front of the commissioner.

Then submit through the channel the notice specifies, attachments in the order of your paragraph 9 list, ideally as one PDF named with the notice number. Keep the proof at once: a portal reference number, a stamped copy, or a dated screenshot.

Diarise a follow-up two to three weeks later and query it in writing, quoting the notice number, to confirm the notice was actually redirected. Silence is not confirmation.

If it does not work

If the nomination is refused and the notice is an AARTO infringement notice, you can make written representations to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, which cost nothing to lodge but carry a R100 fee if rejected, using our representations to the RTIA template. If the paper is a Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 summons, the court named on it deals with the matter and you should not let the date pass. For the fuller picture, read how to nominate the driver of a fined vehicle.

Legal Aid South Africa is on 0800 110 110, applies a means test, and takes serious traffic matters that could result in a criminal record. University law clinics assist at no charge.

LawMatch is not a law firm and this article is general information, not legal advice about your situation.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I get it commissioned, and what does it cost?

Any police station commissions an affidavit free of charge, and many post offices, attorneys and bank branches have commissioners of oaths. Take your identity document and an unsigned copy.

Can I nominate an employee who drove a company vehicle?

Yes, and this is the commonest use of the form. The logbook or key register makes it credible. Where the vehicle is registered to a company rather than to you, the person deposing should be someone who can properly swear to the company's records.

What if I honestly do not know who was driving?

Then do not name anyone. Guessing on oath is far more serious than the fine, and a nomination that turns out to be wrong lands on an innocent person.

Does the nomination cancel the fine?

No. It moves it. The notice becomes the named driver's to pay or dispute, and until it is redirected it remains yours.

What about demerit points?

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. The roll-out of the points system has been postponed more than once, so confirm the current position with the Road Traffic Infringement Agency before relying on any change. See how do demerit points work in South Africa.