SOUTH Africa’s expanded Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) roll-out has so far not caused any widespread disruption for the car-rental industry, although operators are encountering practical challenges in processing infringements and managing driver nominations. Phase 2 of AARTO commenced across 62 municipalities on July 1, bringing the system into a broader operational environment that includes major urban centres and key destinations such as Johannesburg, Tshwane, Durban, Gqeberha, East London, Richards Bay, Polokwane and Mbombela. Sandile Ntseoane, GM of the Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA), told Travel News that one of the clearest lessons from the roll-out was that operational implementation was as important as systems and policy readiness. Ntseoane said rental operators had experienced the roll-out differently across municipalities, with member feedback indicating that not all of the communications of the municipalities included in Phase 2 were coming through the processing channels at the same pace. He said some fleet operators were therefore using Road Traffic Infringement Agency reporting facilities to identify and download infringements rather than relying solely on conventional notification channels. Communication remained important, said Ntseoane, and the current phase needed to be understood within the broader phased implementation process. Practical challenges Some rental operators report that although the driver nomination and redirection processes are generally functioning as intended, others have identified practical challenges in receiving and identifying infringements and the administrative processes required to manage them. Driver nomination Driver nomination (the method through which rental companies identify the driver responsible for an infringement) remains one of the areas requiring close attention. SAVRALA’s members have reported an improvement to the online nomination process, including better usability when submitting multiple driver- nomination documents. “The experience is mixed, but there are encouraging
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