The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Ministers of Transport, Trade and Industry, and Police demanding action to clamp down on illegal vehicle number plates in South Africa.
In an official statement, the DA said it wrote to Minister Barbara Creecy, Parks Tau, and Firoz Cachalia, urging for the creation of an inter-ministerial task team to deal with fake and illegal number plates.
The political party warned that fake number plates pose a national safety and crime crisis, as they make it almost impossible to trace vehicles used in criminal activities.
“South African road users are the ultimate victims of a number plate scam being perpetrated, as criminals driving vehicles with illegal number plates cannot be traced or tracked by the CCTV infrastructure on our road network,” said the DA.
It noted that South African vehicle number plate embossers manufacturer and supply an estimated 250,000 plates every month.
According to LAZA, the Number Plate Association of South Africa, up to 60% of plates may be illegal.
The DA said that, since the accredited industry body alerted it to the issue in April 2025, it has been urging the relevant authorities to take action to close down the illegal vehicle number plate supply chain.
In March 2026, the Competition Commission referred allegations of price-fixing by the three manufacturers of blank licence plates to the Competition Tribunal.
The Tribunal has yet to rule on the matter.
The DA stated that this is just the tip of the iceberg, as manufacturers are supplying the embossing machines to an unknown number of uncertified embossers who use them to produce illegal number plates.
There are approximately 780 legal number plate embossers in the country that have been certified by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).
However, it is estimated that there are around 500 illegal embossers.
These embossers often supply their plates to unsuspecting motorists who are scammed into purchasing fake plates.
“The consequences extend beyond regulatory failure,” said the DA.
“Criminals are cloning legitimate number plates to commit crimes, leaving innocent vehicle owners to face arrest, fines, and police investigations for offences they did not commit.”
The political party noted that this practice is taking place under the noses of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, Department of Transport, South African Police Service, and the SABS.
It highlighted that this issue is prevalent in all nine provincial departments of transport, which are the main enforcement bodies, and that Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are the worst-affected provinces.
“The DA insists that the three Ministers responsible seriously address this scandal, because it is aiding and abetting the commission of crime in South Africa.”
Car owners fined for offences they didn’t commit
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has sounded the alarm regarding an increase in motorists being charged for traffic offences they didn’t commit.
This is due to the increase in cloned number plates, as criminals are committing offences using cars with illegal plates, and these actions are later attributed to the rightful owners of the plate in question.
This is a major headache for law-abiding citizens, as the onus falls on them to prove their innocence and have the claims dropped.
OUTA’s executive director of its accountability division, Stefanie Fick, previously advised motorists to attend to these matters as soon as possible should they receive a false fine.
She said that affected drivers would need to bring the matter to the authorities, with the Aarto terms outlining that they’ll need to make representations to the Road Traffic Infringement Agency or a prosecutor.
“If the legitimate owner’s car is different to the cloned vehicle, your ability to show that it is cloned will be easier, for example,” said Fick.
“If you elect to be tried in court, then the onus will be on the State.”
The National Road Transport Act assumes that the owner of the vehicle is the driver in these cases.
Fick said that this assumption can be challenged or rebutted by presenting opposing evidence and refuted by the driver.
If the situation escalates, the best solution may be to apply for new number plates.
Lawful citizens have been fined thousands of rands for actions they didn’t commit.
In 2025, a motorist told Cape Talk that they had received speeding fines totalling R3,400. However, the vehicle in the images was different from their own car.
Both cars had the same number plates, meaning the criminals had cloned the plates and were racking up fines that were being sent to the rightful owner.
The owner said he received no assistance from the Motor Vehicle Recovery Unit, even once the illegal car and plates were tracked down.
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