Gauteng’s new number plate system is set to be accompanied by a new set of controls which the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) believes may push up the price of these vehicle identifiers.
Should this happen, the planned introduction of new plates may backfire on the province and cause it to lose significant revenue from fleet operators.
Back in February 2024, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said that following the introduction of the upgraded plates, every Gauteng resident who renews their car licence disc will also be obligated to apply for a new number plate.
However, several questions remained unanswered, including whether the enhanced plates would be more expensive than the current ones and whether there would be new methods for purchasing and installing them.
“It would appear that the new vehicle license plate scheme is set to force new controls that will come at a price,” Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage told MyBroadband.
“This may backfire on the province, as it could cause big fleet operations to license their vehicles at offices registered in other provinces of the country.”
At present, it costs approximately R200 to get a new number plate in Gauteng, depending on the supplier, hence any fleet that must re-register tens or hundreds of vehicles will certainly feel a price increase that could be severe enough to motivate them to pursue other channels.
While South Africa’s road laws dictate that motorists must register their vehicles in the same province where they reside, this rule appears to be rarely enforced.
As it stands, the National Traffic Information System (Natis) only prevents registering cars with number plates from more than one province under the same person’s name.
More questions than answers
The new Gauteng plates were supposed to launch in April but have missed their deadline with no word from government on the reason for the delay, prompting more questions than answers.
After first saying that the plates would launch to all motorists across the Gauteng province last month, premier Lesufi backtracked on his word and said that they would instead be rolled out to government vehicles first in a pilot period starting April 2024 and thereafter be introduced to private vehicles.
The contradicting statements are indicative of a system that is flawed and not ready to be presented to the public, according to Duvenage.
“Why launch only with government vehicles when the system is supposed to be ready for all cars?” he said.
Furthermore, Outa contends that the improved security features would be beneficial if the rule of law was properly enforced, but there is no indication that they will truly assist in reducing the spread of fraudulent and cloned plates, as promised by the powers that be.
“No matter the technology applied, if you are not prioritising law enforcement and prevention, criminals will still get away with crime,” said Outa’s executive director for accountability, Stefanie Fick
“Catching criminals and holding them accountable should be a priority, along with new technology. Having new tech is useless if you can’t enforce the law.”
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