Gauteng ready to roll out new number plate system: What you need to know

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced this week that motorists should waste no time in making the switch to the province’s new number plates when the application period commences on 1 April this year.

The ambitious plan of migrating Gauteng motorists to a new high tech number plate system was one of the points raised by the premier in his State of the Province Address (Sopa) last year.

‘Starting afresh’ with Gauteng number plates – Lesufi

“From 1 April in Gauteng, we are revamping the car registration numbers of all the cars. We are starting afresh, all of us. Every person that has a car must re-register and get a new registration number that can’t be copied, can’t be removed and is reliable,” he revealed on Tuesday.

The premier spoke about the new plates at an event announcing the Gauteng provincial government’s partnership with Vumacam which is the country’s sole provider of a single connected network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) infrastructure.

According to Lesufi, the province aims to improve its response to crime through the access of data from the 7 000 CCTV cameras under the control of Vumacam.

ALSO READ: Big Brother is watching: 6 000 CCTV cameras to track crime, but SA feels none the safer

What are the reasons for Gauteng’s new number plates?

The main reason for the introduction of the new number plates is that the province has run out of new letter and number combinations to assign.

Lesufi said that the new number plate system is also intended to clamp down on various criminal activities.

“The problem of crime in this country, and in this province, is that the motor vehicle is the common denominator. Either they are going to escape with it, or the number plate is fraudulent, or that car was kidnapped (sic) or hijacked somewhere, or that car cannot be accounted for.”

ALSO READ: Drones, tamper-proof number plates, e-buttons: Lesufi’s high-tech plans

‘Tamper-proof’

He boasted that the new number plates will be “tamper-proof” due to the fact that it would not be possible to remove them.

They will also be fitted with a QR code linked to the owner of the vehicle. This would enable law-enforcement officials to scan them and assist authorities to detect when someone crosses the country’s borders.

Two-in-one: Licence disc renewal will come with new number plates

Starting from 1 April, he said anyone who renews their licence disc will simultaneously apply for a new number plate.

“We don’t want people to crowd our licensing offices, so every time your disc expires you automatically also have to renew with a number plate. That’s the only way we can make sure everyone comes in.”

He said it would also be possible for a person to get a new number plate without renewing their licence disc, but the reverse would not apply.

What about vehicles from other provinces?

Simply put, all Gauteng motorists would be legally required to make the change when they renew their licence discs.

He said any vehicle form another province which has remained in the province for longer than 30 days, would also have to be fitted with the new Gauteng number plate.