Provincial licence number plate considered for KZN
KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka said there is an urgent need to introduce a new provincial licence number plate, as some of the number plates such as NPS are outdated in terms of the registering authority boundaries.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport is considering implementing a new provincial vehicle licence numbering system.
Recently, the KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka along with his department met with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to request assistance in expediting the implementation process through system enhancements and changes on NaTis.
Hlomuka said the urgent need to introduce a new provincial licence number plate is informed by the fact that some of the numbers are outdated in terms of the registering authority boundaries.
He said these include number plates such as NPS (Port Shepstone), NRB (Richards Bay), NPN (Pinetown), ND (Durban) and NP (Pietermaritzburg).
Hlomuka said he is empowered in terms of Regulation 27 (1) and (2) to the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No. 93 of 1996), which states that the MEC is permitted to, among other things, determine a licence mark and licence numbering system for the province concerned.
He added that all other provinces have a continuous numbering system except for KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, saying that the new numbering for the province will also be easy to align with the national intentions to develop a new numbering system for the country.
The KZN Department of Transport is embarking on a consultation process with critical stakeholders as part of its implementation process of a new provincial license numbering system.
“As we move ahead with this process, we want to ensure that there is job creation and economic empowerment of our people in KZN. These consultations will assist us in ensuring that our road map towards the implementation of the new numbering system is inclusive. As government we are also looking at better ways of ensuring that when the project is implemented there will be no burden to motorists,” said Hlomuka.
The delegation that met with Hlomuka was led by CEO Advocate Makhosini Msibi from RTMC and Katima Temba, SABS divisional head of Certification Services.
Msibi said RTMC was ready to assist with preparing user acceptance testing and provision of necessary human personnel to assist with the transition to the new numbering system.
Meanwhile, Hlomuka said as part of the consultations, the department will still engage with other relevant stakeholders before outlining the final implementation process that will be followed by motorists.
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