September 2010

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has announced that the proposed roll-out of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act is to be postponed in order to ensure effective implementation.

Prior to this, The South African Vehicle and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) had been granted access to The National Traffic Information System (e-NaTIS) in order to facilitate finding a practical, holistic and sustainable solution to the processing of fines, particularly in the vehicle rental and leasing environment.

SAVRALA has therefore been developing an automated system to help streamline the current process of re-directing fines so that the notice of infringement is issued directly to the driver, not the owner, of the vehicle. To this end, various regulation amendments have been proposed, focusing particularly on the nomination of drivers.

Val van den Bergh, General Manager of SAVRALA, comments: “The fact that the AARTO roll-out has now been postponed will give SAVRALA more time to have the regulation changes implemented successfully. We are pleased that the RTMC is taking the time to address the challenges raised during AARTO’s pilot phase.”

September 2010

Government’s carbon emissions tax is set to come into effect on 1 September 2010. The South African Vehicrned about the broader impact that this tax will have on its members and the general road user.

It has been said that South Africa is one of the few African countries that could contribute to mitigating climate change, a goal that is naturally shared by responsible businesses and individuals. The implemenle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) adds its voice to those major stakeholders who are concetation of a CO2 tax is therefore understandable in the global race to reduce carbon emissions. But – SAVRALA seeks answers from Government to a variety of concerns:

CO2 tax will be levied on new vehicles. What is being done about the large assortment of old – many unroadworthy – vehicles that continue to spew emissions into the environment unchecked?

The tax is a flat rate CO2 emissions tax. The tax will add anything from R5 000 to R20 000 to the cost of a new vehicle; a fact that threatens to have a negative impact on the already ailing motor industry. Furthermore, a flat rate tax does not take into account the fact that vehicles that travel less emit less carbon than those that are on the road day in and day out.

The tax will be levied at R75/gram of carbon dioxide emitted per kilometre for each gram/kilometre above 120 grams per kilometre. Only 0.4% of passenger cars sold fall into this environmentally friendly category. This problem is further compounded by the fact that car manufacturers cannot produce or import vehicles with less-polluting engines as the fuel available in South Africa is not yet clean enough to sustain them.

This tax will raise a potential R1-billion a year in revenue for the National Treasury. Are there plans in place to guarantee that the revenue earned from this environmentally-motivated tax will in fact be spent on environmental issues?

June 2010

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) recently announced that the proposed roll out of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) is going ahead as planned. The staggered roll out is expected to be completed by 31 December 2010.

Although the South African Vehicle and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) fully supports the implementation of AARTO, as well as its objectives, our concern for our members has stemmed from the problems posed by traffic fines. It is not car rental companies who are traffic offenders, but rather the clients driving the cars. Many SAVRALA members have accumulated large volumes of traffic fines, many of which have not been redirected by the authorities to the offenders in question. This has resulted in SAVRALA members being harassed and the delay in registration and licensing of vehicles etc.

Consider this statistic: SAVRALA members accumulate an estimated 400,000 traffic fines per annum. Of these 150,000 are from foreign residents and they all need to be re-directed. Currently the first infringement notice goes to the relevant SAVRALA member, not the driver responsible. This results in a lengthy process to re-direct the penalty to the driver – a mission which is often impossible. Not only does this delay the payment of the penalty, it also means that the SAVRALA member remains liable.

AARTO is managed by the RTMC to ensure the proper and effective functioning of its systems and processes, with law enforcement being the key focus. Both the RTMC and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) have agreed with SAVRALA that there is a need for a practical, holistic and sustainable solution to the processing of fines. They understand that avoiding the risks, delays and costs relating to the posting of documentation and subsequent manual processing is vital and have therefore granted SAVRALA access to The National Traffic Information System (e-NaTIS).

SAVRALA will now undertake to develop an automated system that pays specific attention to the needs of rental and leasing sections whilst complying with the AARTO Act and other relevant regulations. This system will help streamline the current process of re-directing the fines as the notice of infringement will be issued directly to the driver – valuable time will be saved and SAVRALA members will no longer be liable.

June 2010

The state of our country’s roads is having a seriously negative impact on South African motorists. Potholes and general decay of roads are costing road users tens of thousands of Rands in car repairs, not to mention the danger posed through the ensuing accidents. The South African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) points out that car rental and leasing agencies are hardest hit by the poor road conditions due to the large fleets that they maintain. Bad road conditions are one of the recognised causes of excessive wear and tear and often lead to disputes as to who is accountable for the resultant costs.

It is admirable that ‘SANRAL has now raised R17.3 billion of funding for the expansion and upgrade of toll roads, particularly the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project’, however, this doesn’t make the daily commute on suburban roads any less harrowing. SouthAfrica.info, the official gateway to the nation, encouraging tourists and investors to visit this incredible land of diversity, states: ‘while most national roads are tarred and in good condition, the more rural the road, the more likely it is to be pot-holed and poorly surfaced.’ Are we to understand that roads in suburbs such as Rosebank and Sandton, carrying large volumes of daily traffic, are now considered rural?

The 2010 National Budget clearly states that since 2004, ‘the country’s roads, transport, stadiums and buildings received a facelift.’ If that is the case, the question has to be asked: why are potholes and deplorable road maintenance of such concern to road users? The treasury goes on to say that one of the main changes to the budget for the next three years will be the allocation of R2.8 billion more for public transport, roads and rail infrastructure. The Johannesburg Roads Agency claims to maintain a steady response time of three days from the time a pothole is reported; a fact that road users are quick to oppose.

If one considers the fleets owned and managed by members of SAVRALA, the cost of constantly having to replace tyres and rims coupled with regular wheel alignments and repairs to suspensions leads to an increase in total transport costs. Ultimately it is the consumer who bares the brunt of the problem as the prices of goods and services continue to escalate.