What to do when blocked from renewing licences by ‘enforcement order’

Motorists who are blocked from renewing their vehicle or driving licences because of enforcement orders for outstanding traffic infringements have been advised by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) to apply to the agency for revocation of these orders.

This is the advice to motorists by RTIA spokesperson Monde Mkalipi on Thursday in reaction to claims by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) that it has received complaints that traffic authorities are using old fines to issue enforcement orders and are demanding payment before allowing licence renewals for these vehicles.

Outa executive director Stefanie Fick said on Thursday it appears in many cases that motorists were never made aware of their outstanding infringement notices, which is required of the authorities.

Fick said Outa had written to the RTIA about these complaints and had a meeting with the agency on Monday, at which it assured Outa that all “enforcement order” blocks on its system will be lifted until the RTIA has completed its internal investigation into the matter.

She added that Outa discovered that the RTIA is converting infringement notices dating as far back as 2019 into enforcement orders, which in turn blocks the ability to renew vehicle and driver’s licences.

Fick said Outa believes this practice is taking place well outside the prescribed time periods, as stipulated in the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act.

“The enforcement orders are then loaded against the vehicle owners’ details in the national vehicle registry system [NaTIS], requiring the motorist or vehicle owner to pay these outstanding fines before their licences can be issued,” she said.

Investigation and advice

Mkalipi confirmed the RTIA ordered an investigation into the matter but was unable at this stage to respond to a number of other questions on the issue that were emailed to the agency by Moneyweb.

This article will be updated when a full response is obtained from the RTIA.

Outa advises motorists and vehicle owners that:

• Licence renewals cannot be blocked by outstanding Aarto infringement notices, such as a fine that has not been converted into an enforcement order, and withholding licence renewals for this reason is not permitted by law;
• If a motorist or vehicle owner is prevented from renewing their vehicle licence, they should report this to RTIA and/or Outa and “stand their ground if a licensing authority insists they pay their outstanding traffic fines before their licence can be issued”;
• If the issuing authority tries to prevent motorists from renewing their licences, motorists must point out that the RTIA has lifted all ‘enforcement order’ blocks on their system until it has completed its internal investigation into the matter; and
• They cannot be arrested for outstanding traffic infringements unless there is a warrant of arrest, which must be produced to the motorist by the official claiming to be in possession of such a warrant.

Capacity constraints or dubious practices?

Fick said it is uncertain if the RTIA’s failure to comply with its process is because of capacity constraints or dubious collection practices.

“Nevertheless, this cannot continue at the expense of motorists, especially in light of the Constitutional Court judgment giving government the green light to roll out Aarto nationwide,” she said.

Fick stressed that a certain process must be followed once a motorist is issued a fine for a traffic offence.

“Firstly, the infringer will be issued with an infringement notice to inform him or her of the offence.

“This infringement notice must contain all relevant information related to the infringement, including that the infringer must within 32 days of the notice act on it – either by paying or contesting the fine,” she said.

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Fick said that if an infringer fails to act within 32 days, the RTIA must issue and serve a courtesy letter on the infringer.

The aim of a courtesy letter is to ensure that an infringer is informed of the infringement they have committed and the consequences of the infringement, she said.

“Only once an infringer has failed to act within 32 days on a courtesy letter may the RTIA issue and serve an enforcement order.

“Where the RTIA has failed to issue and serve the courtesy letter timeously, the RTIA has deprived an infringer of the opportunity to comply with an infringement notice, resulting in a more serious consequence.

“If this is the case, it means the RTIA has failed to follow its own process and cannot merely convert the old infringement notice to an enforcement order,” she said.

“In these circumstances, the enforcement order might be considered to be unlawful and invalid.”

However, Fick said setting aside a flawed enforcement order requires time, money and resources, which is something an infringer should not be burdened with when the administrative flaw is a result of the RTIA’s own conduct.

Outa urges motorists to regularly check whether they have enforcement orders on the Aarto website and follow the steps, especially before arranging to renew their motor vehicle licences and driving licence cards.

The organisation said that if an enforcement order is issued and they do not agree with it, the vehicle owner should apply to the RTIA for revocation of the enforcement order to remedy the situation.

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