Under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act, a traffic fine is no longer a once-off payment. From 1 September 2026, every offence also adds demerit points to your driving record, and enough points suspends your licence, no matter how promptly you paid. This page sets out how many points offences carry, the 15-point limit, and exactly how suspension and recovery work.
How demerit points are allocated
Every driver starts at zero. Points are added to your driving licence, operator card or vehicle licence disc when one of three things happens: you pay the fine, an enforcement order is issued against you, or a court convicts you. Paying the fine does not stop the points being added, which is the single biggest change from the old system.
Each offence is counted on its own. If you are caught speeding while using your phone, you receive the points for both, separately. Points are only allocated from 1 September 2026. Fines you received before that date do not add points, but they still have to be paid, and if left unpaid they can escalate to an enforcement order.
How many points each offence carries
The exact points for each offence are set in Schedule 3 of the AARTO Regulations. Points run from 0 to a maximum of 6 per offence: minor infringements carry one or two, while most serious and criminal offences carry the full six. As a guide:
| Offence | Typical demerit points |
|---|---|
| Minor infringement, such as not wearing a seatbelt | 1 to 2 |
| Low-level speeding, for example about 10 km/h over the limit | 1 to 2 |
| Speeding, rising through set bands as you go faster | up to 6 |
| Using a phone while driving | 6 |
| Reckless or negligent driving | 6 |
| Driving without a valid licence | 6 |
| Driving under the influence | 6 |
| Certain minor infringements | 0 |
Speeding is split into brackets based on how far over the limit you are, across three road types, urban, rural and freeway, with a tolerance of roughly 10 km/h before any fine applies. Fines start at about R400 for driving 11 to 12 km/h over the limit and rise for every additional 2 km/h. By 18 km/h over, the penalty is around R1,000 and 2 demerit points. At the top end it stops being an administrative matter altogether: exceeding the limit by 30 km/h or more in an urban area, or 40 km/h or more on a freeway or rural road, is treated as a criminal offence and can lead to arrest.
Because the precise points and rand penalty for every individual charge code are prescribed in Schedule 3 and are being updated for the 2026 rollout, confirm the exact figure for a specific offence against the current Schedule 3 or the official AARTO portal before relying on it.
The point at which your licence is suspended
There is a threshold of points you can carry before your licence is suspended:
- 15 points for a fully licensed driver.
- 6 points for a learner driver.
- 12 points for an operator card.
Once you go over the threshold, your licence is suspended for three months for every point above it. So if the threshold is 15 and you reach 17, you are two points over, which is a six-month suspension. Driving while your licence is suspended is a criminal offence.
You may only be suspended twice. If you exceed the threshold a third time, your licence is cancelled outright, and you have to start again with a learner’s licence once the ban has lapsed.
How points fall away
Points are not permanent. One demerit point is removed for every three months you drive without picking up a new one. So a driver sitting on six points clears them after 18 months of clean driving, dropping steadily back to zero. Careful driving genuinely reverses the count, which is the recovery mechanism built into the system.
What to do about your points
You cannot see or accumulate real points until the system switches on in September 2026, but two things are worth doing now. Clear any outstanding fines, because unpaid pre-September infringements can still become enforcement orders that block your licence renewals. And if you receive a fine you believe is wrong, dispute it with a representation rather than paying, because once you pay, the points are allocated. You can estimate where a set of offences would leave you with our AARTO demerit points simulator.
For the wider process, including how a fine escalates if you ignore it, see our guides to the AARTO infringement notice and how the AARTO system works.
Frequently asked questions
How many demerit points before you lose your licence in South Africa? A fully licensed driver is suspended once points climb past 15. The threshold is 6 points for a learner driver and 12 for an operator card. Above the threshold, the licence is suspended for three months per point over.
How many demerit points does each offence carry? Points run from 0 to 6 per offence, as set in Schedule 3 of the AARTO Regulations. Minor infringements carry one or two points, while serious offences such as reckless driving, using a phone, driving without a licence or driving under the influence carry six.
Do demerit points expire? Yes. One point is removed for every three months you drive without a new offence, so points fall steadily back to zero with clean driving. Six points, for example, take 18 months to clear.
When do AARTO demerit points start? Demerit points are only allocated from 1 September 2026. Fines issued before then do not add points, but they must still be paid.
Does paying an AARTO fine avoid the demerit points? No. Paying the fine is one of the events that allocates the points. If you believe the fine is wrong, the time to act is before you pay, by making a representation.
