Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, has given the public their first peek at what Gauteng’s new number plates may look like.
In a recent government gazette, Creecy granted exemption to motor vehicles owned by the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) from complying with the provisions of the current number plate regime.
The new plates will now be fitted to GPG vehicles as part of a trial phase to sort out the initial niggles that accompany such a complex system, which is expected to last for six months.
When the authorities are satisfied with the effectiveness, the plates will be rolled out to the public.
What to expect
The new Gauteng number plates are intended to crack down on the use of fraudulent vehicle identifiers in the province.
The provincial powers estimate that as much as 80% of criminal acts taking place in Gauteng involve a vehicle that is fitted with falsified number plates.
The so-called “tamper-proof” plates are therefore designed to “prevent cloning, enhance safety, and establish accountability from manufacturers and retailers in the value chain,” said the GPG.
In this endeavour, the new identifiers feature a scannable QR code that links to an online database of vehicle information, as well as bear the mark of the manufacturer to ensure they can be traced back to where they were produced.
Additionally, they now have a SANS 1116-compliant decal that “must self-destruct if an attempt is made to remove such decal.”
Other pertinent adjustments comprise the addition of a national flag on the top-left corner, the United Nations code for South Africa (ZA), a 2mm-thick black divider line situated 60mm from the left edge, the word “Gauteng” in the top centre, and the provincial emblem between the licence number and “GP” classifiers.
With all these enhancements accounted for, the plates that will feature on GPG-owned vehicles henceforth will look something like this:
Creecy noted that the above plate is not the exact configuration that will adorn GPG cars, but that it is “substantially similar.”
As for private vehicles, the new plates will have the same design hallmarks such as the national flag, “ZA” insignia, provincial name, and QR code.
However, the Gauteng Department of Transport confirmed to TopAuto in September 2023 that the current alphanumeric configuration – e.g. AA 11 AA GP – is not expected to change for private cars until it is exhausted.
“It is estimated the series will last until around 2038,” the entity said.
With this information in hand, our in-house multimedia team took the liberty to create a mock-up of what the new number plates may look like for average passenger cars.
Potential nationwide rollout
In his annual State of the Province Address at the start of 2024, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said that the National Department of Transport has developed draft legislation on new number plates that will be applicable to all nine provinces in the country, not just Gauteng.
“Stolen and hijacked cars are central to crime that is committed in our province. The majority of these vehicles use fake number plates; the majority of these vehicles use duplicate number plates. Fortunately, the current system that we have is running out of numeric letters, and we need to introduce new number plates in our province so that we can strengthen our fight against crime,” said Lesufi.
“The National Department of Transport has developed a draft legislation to ensure that this introduction is common across all nine provinces, and as soon as the minister of transport concurs to this legislation, Gauteng will be ready to ensure that we introduce new number plates to avoid criminals using wrong things to commit crime.”
Pouring fuel onto the fire, the National Department of Transport published a Government Gazette in January 2015 intending to effect changes to motor vehicle number plates across the country.
The now nine-year-old gazette displays the same enhanced security features of the plates showed off in the latest documents, such as the QR code, national flag, and top-centre provincial name.
As shown below, it seems this design was intended to be rolled out across all nine provinces in South Africa from the very beginning, indicating that other provinces could follow Gauteng’s lead in the future.
Join the discussion