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Take the Decision Under Review and Appeal to the Appeals UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 1 TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 ____ PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ____ The House met at 14:03. The Deputy Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation. CONSIDERATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTICATION OF ROAD TRAFFIC OFFENCES AMENDMENT BILL AND OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT THEREON Setswana: Moh D P MAGADZI: Motlatsammusakgotla, maloko otlhe a Ntlo eno... [Tsenoganong.] ... Dumela rra. Mametlelelo ya Molaotlhomo wa wa Tshekatsheko ya Tsamaiso ya Ditlolomelao tsa Pharakano ya mo Mebileng re e tlisitse mo Ntlong eno mme ra dumalana ka yona, morago ya isiwa kwa NCOP. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 2 Maloko a NCOP a bone go le botlhokwa gore gonne le diphetogo di le mmalwa mo go yona, jaaka go lebelela gore molawana ona o kwadilwe jang. Phetogo ya bobedi ke gore molawana ona o dirilwe ka 1993 fa Molao wa Ditlamo o ne o se teng, ka jalo, maloko a ile a tsaya tshwetso ya gore go tsenngwe Molao wa Ditlamo gonne go le botlhokwa gore Tshekatsheko ya Tsamaiso e bone gore ditlamo tsa puso di dira jang. Phetogo ya bofelo ke gore, re ile ra kopiwa jaaka Komiti ya Dipalangwa mo Palamenteng gore re thuse ka dingongorego tse di leng gone gore di isiwe kwa Kgotlhatshekelong e e kwa Godimo. Kwa kgotlhatshekelong ba ile ba tshitsinya gore di fetisetswe kwa Kgotlhatshekelong ya Magistrata gore di lebelelwe sentle ke Magistrata. Re le mokgatlho wa ANC re dira diphetogo tseno gore go nne le diphetogo mo matshelong a rona. English: UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 3 The objectives of this Bill encourages the compliance of road traffic laws and it also encourages payment of penalties established procedure for effective and expeditious adjudication of road traffic infringements, alleviate the burden of the courts, penalises infringers, allocation of demerits points and reward good behaviour through reduction of the demerits. Setswana: Tsena ke dilo tse re ileng ra di lebeletseng. ... [Tsenoganong.] Setswana: MOTLATSAMMUSAKGOTLA: Mma, ke kopa go go emisa go le gonnye mo ngangisanong ya gago. English: Members, I would like to remind you that we are in the House. Your conversation is too loud, please keep it low, so that we can hear the speaker at the podium. Setswana: UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 4 O ka tswelelapele, Mma. Setswana: Moh D P MAGADZI: Motlatsammusakgotla, tse ke di kaileng ke dilo tse re ileng ra di lebelela, gape, ga re kgatlhanong le go ikamanya le se NCOP e feditseng ka sona, ka jalo, rona jaaka Komiti ya tsa Dipalangwa, re dumalana le tshwetso ya NCOP. Re kopa gore Palamente e dumele gore molawana ona go dumalanwe ka ona gore o kgone go re thusa go fokotsa mathata a re lebaneng le ona mo ditseleng tsa Aforikaborwa ... English: ... and as we are doing that, we must always remember that the ANC is the only party that can be able to bring in transformation. Therefore, as we move towards the elections, don’t forget to vote the ANC. I thank you. [Applause.] There was no debate. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 5 The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Since there is no speaker’s list, I recognise the Chief Whip of the Majority Party. The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Deputy Speaker, we move that the Bill as amended by the NCOP be passed by this House. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are there any objections? HON MEMBERS: No. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There are objections. Let me put the question. Those in favour will say aye. HON MEMBERS: Aye. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Those against will say no. HON MEMBERS: No. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The ayes have it. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 6 Mr M WATERS: Deputy Speaker, the DA would like to make a declaration, please. Thank you. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That’s an odd way to place your request for declaration, but that’s fine. Go ahead, hon member. Declarations of vote: Mr M S F DE FREITAS: Deputy Speaker, the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act was enacted to discourage road traffic contraventions and facilitates the efficient adjudication of road traffic infringements. Under the current adjudication system, traffic violations fall under the ambit of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977. The objective of Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences, AARTO, is to ensure greater compliance with traffic laws and regulations by entrusting the adjudication of traffic offences to an autonomous body as regulated by the Act. This Act has been piloted in Johannesburg and Tshwane. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 7 However, neither the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, RTIA, nor the department were able to provide a comprehensive report on the outcomes of these pilots. Lessons can thus not be gleaned from this. These amendments are, in our view, unconstitutional. In terms of section 34 of the Constitution of the Republic, each person has the right to: Have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum. Furthermore, in terms of section 35, each accused person has the right to a fair trial which also includes the right to a public trial before an ordinary court and to adduce and challenge evidence. The amendment Bill purports to remove an alleged infringer’s right to approach a court until such a time that a courtesy letter has been issued. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 8 A road user’s immediate right to have an opportunity to make a representation to the RTIA is established by the Act. Theoretically, this would not be unconstitutional insofar as the alleged offender still has the ability to approach another independent and impartial tribunal as laid down in the Constitution. However, it cannot be said that the RTIA would constitute such an independent and impartial entity. Representation officers would be employed by and under the direction of the authority, would not thus be impartial independent. In the event where representations by the infringer are unsuccessful, he or she would have the right to take the decision under review and appeal to the Appeals Authority. This is also flawed. Such an authority would most certainly impede physical access to justice, as it would deny road users the type of access that is already afforded to them via magistrates’ courts. In the case of representation officers, the Appeals Authority would also UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 9 not be completely independent, impartial and unbiased and a conflict of interest certainly exists. The Bill does not satisfy the rights afforded to accused persons under the Constitution, and would not be able to survive constitutional scrutiny. We have no doubt that on at the very least on this basis, the President will not assent to this Bill and will send it back to this House. Section 20 for example, contains the provisions relating to an enforcement order. According to the Bill, such an order must be served on an accused when he or she fails to comply with a notification, a courtesy letter or if the infringer has failed to appear before court. We believe that such a provision would not survive constitutional scrutiny. We say this because the adversarial system that underlies South Africa’s civil and criminal justice system provides that the person that alleges must prove his or her allegation, and not that a person who is accused of a crime or civil wrong must prove his or her innocence. UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 10 It’s alarming that this section of the principal Act seems to move away from this position. In simple terms, the enforcement order confirms that the accused person is guilty of the infringement that he or she has been accused of in the complete absence of a trial. The accused person is then forced to pay a fine and demerit points are issued against his or her driver’s license. This is in conflict with section 35 of the Constitution which provides that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The bottom-line is that a number of provisions contained in the Bill will not survive judicial scrutiny, as they are especially not in line with the provisions of section 34 and 35 of the Constitution. The Bill adds a new layer of administration that would hinder the interest and achievement of justice. To top it all off, nowhere are the words “road safety” mentioned in this Bill. Clearly, these amendments are aimed at generating income for the RTIA, rather than improving UNREVISED HANSARD NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 5 MARCH 2019 Page: 11 road safety in South Africa. The DA can therefore not support this Bill. Thank you. [Applause.] Mr T E MULAUDZI: Deputy Speaker, when the Road Traffic Offences Amendment Bill was first introduced to Parliament; we did not object this Bill, but we had a number of issues and these issues have still not been properly addressed. The purpose of this Bill is to promote road traffic qualities by providing a scheme that discourage road traffic contravention and facilitate the efficient adjudication of road traffic infringements. But it fails to take into account reality and what has worked and what has not worked. In the past 10 years, 134 000 people have been killed in our road through road accident. The majority of accidents are caused by drunk and driving.
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