Could AARTO affect more than your driving licence?
Could AARTO stop you from buying or selling a vehicle? Here’s how enforcement orders can block key eNATIS transactions.
Many South Africans worry that AARTO could cost them their driving licence.
That concern is valid, but another consequence may affect daily life even sooner.
An unpaid infringement can eventually prevent important vehicle transactions. It can leave motorists unable to buy, sell or license a vehicle until they have resolved the matter.
The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act aims to improve road safety by moving most traffic infringements from the criminal courts into an administrative process. The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) will manage that.
Serious offences, including reckless or drunk driving, still fall under the Criminal Procedure Act. The new system also introduces demerit points, with licence suspension after a driver exceeds 15 points.
HOW DOES AARTO AFFECT BUYING OR SELLING A CAR?
The answer depends on whether an Enforcement Order has been issued.
Under the current process, motorists have 32 days to respond to an infringement notice. Ignoring it leads to a Courtesy Letter. After another 32 days without action, an Enforcement Order may be issued, which is 64 days after the original notice was served.
Once that Enforcement Order is active, RTIA places an administrative block against the person’s profile on the eNATIS system. The result reaches far beyond a simple unpaid fine.
The blocked motorist cannot process a Notification of Change of Ownership when selling a vehicle, register a newly purchased vehicle, or renew a vehicle licence disc until he has resolved the Enforcement Order.
Those restrictions could delay private sales, dealership purchases and routine licensing.
WHY IS OUTA RAISING NEW CONCERNS?
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has widened its challenge to the implementation of AARTO after RTIA disclosed details about the AARTO Appeals Tribunal only during legal proceedings.
According to OUTA, motorists should already have known who serves on the tribunal, how members were appointed and how appeals could be lodged before Phase 2 took effect on 1 July 2026. Executive Director for Accountability, Stefanie Fick, argues that transparency should never depend on threatened litigation. OUTA maintains that its court challenge focuses on procedural fairness rather than opposition to safer roads.
WHAT SHOULD MOTORISTS DO NOW?
The safest approach is to address infringement notices promptly rather than assume they will disappear.
Check whether a fine is legitimate, use the available administrative remedies within the prescribed time limits and avoid allowing a matter to progress to an Enforcement Order.
For many people, the greatest surprise about AARTO is not the demerit system. It is that an unresolved traffic infringement could bring everyday vehicle ownership to a standstill.
Whether you are renewing a licence disc, registering a new purchase or selling your current car, ignoring an administrative notice could prove far more costly than the original fine.