The upcoming number plate recognition system, envisioned to help fight crime in Gauteng, could have dire consequences if its data falls into the wrong hands.
Nathan-Ross Adams, the founder and managing director at ITLawCo, noted while speaking to Cape Talk that data could harm South Africans if handled poorly.
“Depending on how it’s actually captured and used, it could result in harm to various people,” he said.
“Let’s say you’re going to a shopping centre or you’re entering a complex or toll booth, your number plates are logged at those different points.”
He outlined that while this helps with crime fighting, it could also pose a risk to motorists.
An example of this, which he shared, is of an incident in Europe, where an unauthorised person accessed the number plate tracking system to monitor and track their partner in a domestic violence dispute.
“They were actually stalking the person and could get the behavioural movements of when they went to certain stores, when they arrived at home, over a few months,” he said.
“The person’s privacy was obviously invaded, but their safety and security were also compromised in that case. There is a very real risk with this. Who the data is shared with matters.”
Adams additionally explained that privacy is less about what you can and can’t do with data and more about control.
He added that control over data is a fundamental part of the Constitution.
The new number plates
The new number plate system is currently being used by provincial government vehicles in Gauteng, with the Department of Transport indicating it hopes to extend the system to the rest of the country’s cars by December 2025.
These plans were announced by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi during his State of the Province Address in February 2023.
He outlined that the plan would help authorities deal with undocumented vehicles during this address.
This was a view he repeated this year in 2025, noting that fraudulent number plates and cars without proper documentation are at the centre of crime in Gauteng.
“Criminals use undocumented cars to commit crimes. We are now ready to launch tamper-proof new number plates.”
However, concerns have been raised over the new system regarding its cost, with civil rights organisation Afriforum lodging an internal application with the Gauteng Department of Transport in August 2025, requesting this information.
Afriforum lodged this application after the department failed to answer its Protection of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application within the prescribed 30 days.
“AfriForum insists that the provincial department must disclose the proposed cost and associated re-registration costs of these number plates,” it said.
It also noted that there are around three and a half million vehicles in Gauteng, which means that to meet the demand, around seven million new number plates will need to be manufactured.
“The Premier wants to have around seven million new number plates manufactured, but he is not even prepared to disclose how much it will cost — this is unacceptable,” said Louis Boshoff, AfriForum campaign manager.
Another point of contention has been the apparent need for every vehicle owner to reregister and get a new number plate.
Lesufi emphasised that if a car spends 30 consecutive days in South Africa, it must be registered.
However, the South African Vehicle Rental Leasing and Fleet Management Association has disputed these claims, while other critics have questioned the need for reregistration.
This is especially as the new registrations will require a new licence disc, which in Gauteng costs a minimum of R408, excluding the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s R72 administration fee, and the cost of a number plate varies between R400 and R500.
As a result, South Africans could be looking at a R1,000 bill for the mandatory re-registration process.
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