About this site
What this calculator is, who operates it, where the numbers come from, and how it relates to official RTIA / RTMC channels.
Last verified: August 2026. Try the calculator → · Methodology → · Demerit status →
DemeritCheck is a free, unofficial educational tool that helps South African drivers estimate their AARTO demerit point total against the 15-point disqualification threshold. It is not an official record, not legal advice, and not affiliated with RTIA, RTMC, or any government body.
Why this site exists
South Africa's demerit-point framework is unusually easy to get wrong, because two things that sound like one thing are actually separate. The demerit schedule — the table that says what each charge is worth — is in force. Demerit enforcement — the machinery that records those points against a licence and suspends it — is not. Most of the confusion we see online, including confidently stated go-live dates that were withdrawn in 2025, comes from collapsing that distinction.
Our aim is narrow and, we hope, useful: let a driver look up what a charge is actually worth under the current regulations, add up their own position, and understand precisely how much weight that number carries today. Nothing more ambitious than that.
Where the data comes from
Every demerit value on this site is taken from Schedule 3, column 6 of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Regulations, 2026 (Government Notice R.7646, Government Gazette 54922, published 30 June 2026 and in force from 1 July 2026), as enacted by regulation 20(1). The 15-point disqualification total comes from regulation 20(6).
The catalogue currently holds 1694 charges across the National Road Traffic Act, AARTO Act, provincial and municipal, National Land Transport Act, and Cross-Border Road Transport Act bands of Schedule 3. Charge codes, statutory references, wording, and classification are reproduced as published — including the occasional typographical quirk in the gazette — so that what you read here matches what you can search for in the official document. The dataset is version-pinned in the build, and we bump the pin explicitly when a new gazette supersedes the current one rather than silently editing values. Updates & sources →
How the calculator works
You enter offences yourself; we never look anything up about you. For each one you choose whether it is pending or final. Only final offences count toward the running total, because an infringement that is still within its payment or representation window has not yet attached anything to a driver. If you are unsure, leaving an entry as pending gives you the conservative reading rather than the alarming one. Pending vs final →
When a final total exceeds 15, we show a suspension estimate derived from the Act's three-months-per-point-over-threshold formula. We label it as illustrative every time it appears, because section 25 of the Act is not in force and no disqualification period is currently running against anyone's licence on that basis. Licence suspension & consequences →
Being honest about enforcement
AARTO Act sections 24 to 28 — allocation, disqualification, surrender, cancellation, and point reduction — were not proclaimed as of July 2026. They were omitted from the June 2026 commencement proclamations that brought AARTO's administrative fine process live in 62 municipalities. We repeat that caveat on every page where a number could be mistaken for a live consequence. It would be easy to write more dramatic copy by leaving it out; we would rather you trusted the tool.
What we don't do
- Check your official demerit-point balance with RTIA, RTMC, or eNaTIS
- Store your ID number, licence number, vehicle registration, or offence history
- Predict whether or when demerit enforcement will be proclaimed
- Model point decay, rehabilitation programmes, or fleet and operator compliance
- Give legal advice about paying, contesting, or appealing a fine
- Claim affiliation with or endorsement by any government body
The calculator is stateless: what you type stays in your browser for the current session. You do not need to enter any personal identifier to use it, and you should not. Privacy policy →
We also leave some questions deliberately unanswered. We have not found a published procedure describing whether a driver must be re-tested after a disqualification period ends, so we say so rather than guessing. Where our confidence in a fact is second-hand, we label it as such.
Who operates this site
DemeritCheck is an independent educational tool published by Rabbit Hole Digital, a South African digital studio. It is funded by advertising, carries no sponsored placements, and takes no referral fees from attorneys, insurers, or fine-management services. Nothing on the site is written to steer you toward a paid product.
For corrections, questions, or anything that looks wrong against the gazette, please use the corrections process or get in touch — reach us at hello@rabbitholedigital.co.za. For official information about your licence or infringements, contact RTIA or your local traffic authority. For advice about a specific matter, consult a qualified attorney.
Try the calculator → · Methodology → · What we cannot do → · Updates & sources → · How demerit points work → · Disclaimer →