New SA number plates to be introduced
Vehicle owners will soon have to go through yet another round of number plate upgrades to stay on the right side of the law.
In a document of the Department of Transport, which appeared in the Government Notice of January 2015 guidelines were set out for the implementation of new number plates for vehicles registered in South Africa.
This topic has now resurfaced after Arrive Alive tweeted a reminder to the public that these new plates will come into use in 2017:
What number plates nationwide are going to look like from next year… Renewable every 5 years… pic.twitter.com/JjYCT3Njie
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) August 2, 2016
According to the Department of Transport’s notice the number plates will have the following features:
• All number plates will be made from aluminium with embossed lettering
• South African Bureau of Standards certification mark will appear on the bottom right below the licence mark of the province
• A four-dimensional bar code with a QR code will appear on all number plates
• The abbreviated name of the manufacturer of the blank number plate will appear to the right bottom of the dividing line
• A unique number
• The plates will be black for public transport vehicles, blue for general vehicles, police and personalised number plates, red for government vehicles or green for diplomatic vehicles
• The South African national flag will appear on the top left of the number plate before the dividing line
• the allocated licence number and the licence mark of the respective province will be at the end
Also read: SA driver demerit system to hit roads in 2016
Interesting facts:
• The South African Police Service number plates may consist of three letters, three figures, followed by the letter B
• The king of the Zulu Nation’s number plate will consist of figures or letters or a combination of figures and letters followed by the letters ZK.
Current regulations for fixing a number plate to a vehicle will still be applicable:
Provided that no person shall operate on a public road a motor vehicle first registered on or after 1 July 2011, unless the number plate fixed to such motor vehicle is affixed within 20 millimetres from the edges by means of 4 millimetres rivets or 4 millimetres one-way selftapping screws either directly onto the motor vehicle or onto an integral part thereof or onto an intermediate metal holding bracket approved by the Department of Transport, which is attached to the motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be removed while the number plate is affixed to it in the aforesaid manner.
The general public does not seem to be too happy about it, as can clearly be seen by these comments:
