COUGH UP: Here’s what you’ll pay in SA for all parking violations

Getting back to your car only to find you’ve got a parking ticket is a surefire way to empty your wallet and ruin your day. Parking in any major South African city has become an expensive undertaking, with traffic authorities ready to pounce on any parking violations.

ALSO READ: Here’s how much you’ll PAY if you break these rules of the road

You might find yourself in a hurry and just think “to hell with it”. Or you might genuinely not care about racking up parking violations … but you should think again. Because traffic fines are BIG business for local governments.

PARKING TICKETS ARE BIG BUSINESS

Traffic fines (not just parking violations) make up more than 1% of total municipal revenue in South Africa. We’re talking in excess of R2.5 billion in Gauteng and R2.2 billion in the Western Cape, according to the latest figures from Stats SA.

ALSO READ: All AARTO fitness of vehicle violations and their fines

Here’s the cost of all parking violations in South Africa currently, so you know what you’re in for the next time you’re in a hurry and decide to just park anywhere. Some are common sense, most you should remember from your learner’s and driver’s test, but some might surprise you …

PARKING VIOLATIONS

Violation	Fine	Points
Stopping or parking:
Opposite a vehicle where road is less than 9 metres	R1 000	3
Opposite an excavation or obstruction	R1 000	3
Within 6 metres of a bridge or tunnel	R1 000	3
Within 6 metres of narrow portion of road	R1 000	3
Constituting a danger or obstruction	R1 000	3
Within the railway reserve of level crossing	R1 000	3
On the wrong side of the road	R1 000	3
In contravention of a no-stopping sign	R750	2
On a freeway illegally	R500	1
In contravention of any road sign	R250	0
Double parked	R250	0
Within 9 metres of a pedestrian crossing	R250	0
Where width of road is constricted	R250	0
Within tunnel or on a bridge	R250	0
Obstructing a fire hydrant	R250	0
Obstructing a traffic sign	R250	0
On the sidewalk	R250	0
On non-urban road within 1 metre of the edge	R250	0
Blocking entrance to a public road	R250	0
Within 5 metres of an urban intersection	R250	0
On the actuating mechanism of a robot	R250	0
Further than 450 mm from the kerb R250 0	R250	0
On road less than 5,5 metres wide	R250	0
On a traffic island or pedestrian mall	R250	0

There are currently 2 659 offences listed on the AARTO website, click the link HERE to check the full list of fine amounts.

CHECK YOUR FINES ON AARTO

As a reminder on the driver demerit points system, after years of legal wrangling, the AARTO Act has been upheld in the Constitutional Court. Declared constitutionally valid on Wednesday 12 July 2023, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo upheld the contentions that the AARTO Act falls within the functional area of ‘road traffic regulation’.

After many false starts it appears the path is finally clear for the driver demerit system to come online. Motorists can accumulate 15 demerit points on their license before it is suspended. An expired license can only be suspended twice before it is cancelled.

ALSO READ: Expired license? Here are all the fines for license violations

AARTO encourages motorists to check the status of infringement notices against their name by visiting the www.aarto.gov.za website:

• Click on Query my Fine.
• Provide your ID number and driving license number.
• Juristic entities can provide their business register number and the ID number of a proxy.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES FROM RAY LEATHERN