The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport’s new number plate system – which would have forced the province’s more than 5 million motorists to acquire new number plates – has been put on ice
Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Roads and Transport in Gauteng, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, confirmed this during the announcement of her department’s 2026/2027 budget vote.
The MEC claimed that the project has been put on hold due to several system limitations identified during the pilot project, which would require further technical improvements.
Diale-Tlabela added that the project will only resume once these limitations are addressed and the necessary national legislative and regulatory processes have been finalised.
Civil rights group AfriForum, which threatened legal action if the department implemented the system before prosecution of the so-called number plate cartel, welcomed the province’s decision to put it on hold.
In a letter to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, the organisation insisted that the project be put on hold pending the Competition Tribunal’s prosecution of three number plate manufacturers.
AfriForum warned that it would bring a court application against the department if the demand to stop the project was not met.
The organisation’s spokesperson, Louis Boshoff, welcomed the department’s decision to halt the implementation of the project,
He noted that AfriForum has repeatedly pointed out the risks of the situation, warning that the department would put the province’s vehicle owners in “an unavoidable pinch” should it implement the new number plates.
“Forcing vehicle owners to pay for new number plates, while the so-called number plate cartel would be lining their pockets and prosecution of those involved is still ongoing, would simply be irresponsible,” he said.
“As long as the case is still pending, there can be no certainty that new number plates will be provided at fair prices.”
South African motorists targeted
The so-called number plate cartel is a group of companies that manufacture vehicle licence plates in South Africa and are being prosecuted for allegedly engaging in price-fixing and customer exploitation.
The Competition Commission is investigating number plate blanks manufacturers Uniplate, Unique Number Plate, and New Number Plate Requisites (NNPR).
According to the investigation, the three companies formed a cartel and colluded to fix prices on number plate blanks supplied to customers across South Africa.
The commission noted that they allegedly entered into an agreement, or engaged in a concerted practice, to fix prices and trading conditions for the supply of number plate blanks to embossers, among others.
It added that the practice dates back to at least June 2023, which, if the allegations are true, means South African motorists have been paying inflated prices for almost three years.
According to the report, drivers in KwaZulu-Natal were worse affected than the rest of the country, as the cartel isolated and targeted the province.
“The companies further agreed to impose a surcharge of R10 on all number plate blanks sold in KwaZulu-Natal,” it said.
Of the three accused companies, Uniplate is considered the biggest producer and distributor of licence plate blanks and embossing machines in South Africa.
Uniplate agreed on amounts and dates for price increases to be implemented, and coordinated when each of the companies would issue their price-increase letters.
All three companies were referred to the Competition Tribunal’s prosecutors over their alleged practices.
Should they be successfully convicted of contravening section 4(1)(b)(i) of the Competition Act, each will be liable to pay an administrative penalty, which could be as high as 10% of their respective turnovers.
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