PRETORIA, GAUTENG — The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has launched an urgent High Court application to block the impending implementation of AARTO Phase 2, warning that the July 1 rollout of the traffic legislation will cripple local municipalities. While the association fully backs the road safety objectives of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO), it argues the Department of Transport is devolving the mandate without the necessary financial backing.
Sebang Motlhabi, SALGA chairperson for the Public Transport and Roads Working Group, outlined the association’s legal and administrative objections, emphasizing that the national body supports AARTO’s core mission to reduce road fatalities across the country. However, he stressed that executing Phase 2 without a viable funding model poses a severe risk to local governance.
Unfunded Mandates and Financial Strain
According to Motlhabi, the Department of Transport intends to shift the administrative functions of the legislation to local authorities but has failed to allocate the budget required to operate them. He noted that the financial implications amount to millions of rands, as municipalities would need to procure new technological systems and hire additional manpower.
Local governments are already facing intense financial pressure and struggling with the maintenance of critical infrastructure, including water, sewer, and road networks. Motlhabi warned that forcing municipalities to redirect their limited resources toward AARTO compliance would effectively “strangle” their budgets and severely distract from their core mandate of providing basic services to communities.
Procurement Directives and MFMA Conflicts
Beyond the financial shortfall, SALGA has flagged significant legal conflicts regarding procurement. The national department has instructed municipalities to source specific materials exclusively from the Government Printing Works.
Motlhabi argued that this directive directly contradicts the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). Under the MFMA, municipalities are legally required to test the open market to ensure they are acquiring goods of equal value at the most competitive prices. Forcing them to use a single state entity bypasses these supply chain regulations.
Selective Treatment and the Western Cape Precedent
A major focal point of the legal challenge is the alleged lack of meaningful engagement between the national government and local councils. Motlhabi highlighted a glaring inconsistency in how the Department of Transport is handling provincial objections.
He pointed out that the Western Cape provincial government formally wrote to the department raising the exact same financial and capacity concerns. In response, the department agreed to exonerate the Western Cape from the Phase 2 rollout, opting instead to include the province in Phase 3. Motlhabi questioned why the department is applying selective treatment, pushing forward with the national implementation for the rest of the country despite SALGA raising identical red flags on behalf of all municipalities.
Rejection of Post-Implementation Compromises
In an attempt to ease tensions, the Transport Minister recently proposed a series of post-implementation workshops and policy reviews to be conducted three to six months after the July 1 launch. SALGA has firmly rejected this compromise, describing the proposal as being made in bad faith.
Motlhabi recounted a recent meeting that SALGA had formally requested in writing to discuss their grievances. Instead of a collaborative consultation, he said the session devolved into a one-sided presentation by the Minister and her team, who simply outlined their readiness to proceed.
According to Motlhabi, this dynamic has created a profound trust deficit. He argued that allowing the legislation to take effect first, only to hold workshops months later, would set municipalities up for failure. By the time the reviews take place, local authorities would already be overburdened and facing public backlash for failing to execute the new duties, despite lacking the initial resources and consultation required to succeed.
With the urgent court application now before the High Court, the judiciary will decide whether to grant an interdict to pause the July 1 rollout or allow the Department of Transport to proceed as planned.