Regulatory Week in Review: 29 June – 3 July
AARTO is live – the biggest change on the roads in a generation
After more than a decade of false starts, phase two of the AARTO rollout commenced on 1 July 2026 in 62 municipalities, following two Presidential proclamations published on 29 June 2026. Salga’s urgent bid to halt rollout was struck from the court roll for lack of urgency, though its intergovernmental dispute over the funding model continues. Traffic infringements in the gazetted municipalities are now handled administratively rather than through the criminal courts, and unpaid fines can block licence renewals. The demerit-points system follows later, currently expected in 2027, but employers and fleet operators should be updating driver policies and centralising fine management now.
Financial sector and enforcement watch
Amendments to the Regulations relating to Banks were gazetted on 30 June (GoN 7647) – banks should be running gap analyses against prudential returns and policies. A Gauteng High Court judgement held that construction guarantees operating as risk transfer constitute non-life insurance requiring a license under the Insurance Act, closing a long-standing regulatory grey area. A petition for mandatory bank reimbursement of cyberfraud victims is gaining traction, with Treasury noting the UK’s model as a reference point, and Standard Bank warned of a sharp rise in money-mule activity. the SARB also secured a near-R10m exchange-control forfeiture linked to the Steinhoff collapse.
Two Constitutional Court rulings with regulatory reach
The decade-long rand manipulation case largely collapsed: the Constitutional Court released most of the 28 cited banks (including Standard Bank, Nedbank and FirstRand), finding the Competition Commission’s case against them legally unsustainable and its late joinders invalid. The Commission may proceed against only four foreign institutions. The judgement sets demanding pleading standards for future cartel referrals.
Comment deadlines to diarise
2 August 2026: draft guidelines on the management of damage-causing animals under the Biodiversity Act (GoN 7650).
29 August 2026: two significant items –
- the SA Pharmacy Council’s proposed Good Pharmacy Practice rules targeting fronting in pharmacy ownership (BN 952); and
- representations on the Registrar of Labour Relations’ gazetted intention to cancel the registration of the Public Servants Association (GoN 7626) – one of four union deregistration notices published in a single day, signalling an active LRA-compliance enforcement drive.
For more details check out the full Gazette Watch and Weekly Regulatory & Compliance Summary attached below:
If you have any questions or require any assistance in relation to this week’s regulatory updates, feel free to get in contact with our Legal Team. We’re always happy to assist!
– Alison and The Legal Team