PRETORIA, GAUTENG — The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has launched an urgent legal challenge to halt the implementation of AARTO Phase 2, arguing that the upcoming rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act will place an unsustainable financial and administrative burden on local municipalities.
SALGA approached the North Gauteng High Court on an urgent basis to stop the Phase 2 rollout, which is scheduled to commence on July 1. While the association fully supports the core road safety goals of AARTO and acknowledges its potential to reduce road fatalities across the country, it strongly objects to the Department of Transport’s plan to devolve the administrative functions to municipalities without providing a corresponding funding model.
Sebang Motlhabi, SALGA chairperson for the Public Transport and Roads Working Group, highlighted that the unfunded mandate could cost municipalities millions of rands. The implementation requires new technological systems and dedicated manpower—resources that cash-strapped municipalities cannot spare without diverting funds from critical service delivery, including water, sewer, and road maintenance.
“Our concern as SALGA is that the Department of Transport wants to devolve this function to municipalities, but that does not bring the funding for this function to be properly operated,” Motlhabi explained. He warned that without proper funding, municipalities would be financially strangled, forcing them to redirect essential service delivery budgets to run AARTO functions.
Procurement and Legislative Concerns
Beyond the financial strain, SALGA has raised significant concerns regarding procurement directives. The Department of Transport has instructed municipalities to procure specific materials exclusively from the Government Printing Works. SALGA argues that this directive contradicts the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), which requires municipalities to test the open market to ensure they are obtaining goods of the same value at the most competitive price.
Consultation Disputes and “Selective Treatment”
A major point of contention in the legal challenge is the alleged lack of meaningful consultation between the national government and local municipalities. Motlhabi pointed out that the Western Cape province successfully petitioned the Department of Transport to be exempted from Phase 2 and included in Phase 3 instead, citing the exact same financial and capacity concerns that SALGA is raising on a national level. The Department agreed to the Western Cape’s request.
“The question is why there is selective treatment from the Department of Transport,” Motlhabi stated, emphasizing that the national association is raising identical issues to those of the province, yet the national rollout is proceeding regardless.
Rejection of Minister’s Post-Implementation Proposals
In response to the pushback, the Transport Minister recently proposed post-implementation workshops and policy reviews at the three- to six-month mark. However, SALGA has dismissed this proposal as being “not in good faith,” citing a growing “trust deficit.”
Motlhabi explained that a recent meeting with the Minister, which SALGA had formally requested in writing to discuss their concerns, turned into a one-sided presentation of the Department’s readiness to proceed.
“For the Minister to come and say let us allow the implementation and in three months we are going to review the policies… there is a trust deficit already,” Motlhabi said. He argued that allowing implementation to proceed while planning future workshops would only set municipalities up for failure. “When you are planning your workshops, municipalities will be burdened, and everybody will be saying once again municipalities have failed, notwithstanding the fact that municipalities are already burdened with services that they must give to communities.”
With the matter set down for an urgent hearing, the High Court will now determine whether the implementation of AARTO Phase 2 will proceed as planned on July 1 or be paused to address the funding, procurement, and consultation disputes raised by local government.