New GP number plates could cost consumers, say Outa, AA

Gauteng will introduce new number plates next year and they could cost taxpayers and motorists.

This is the view of the Automobile Association (AA) and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa). 

Premier Panyaza Lesufi confirmed on Tuesday that the move aims to combat crime as vehicles are often a source thereof.

In this regard, the transport department made a presentation in parliament in 2020 under the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill. The new plates will be embedded with microdots, which will be regulated.

“[This is] part of overhauling and ensuring we fight ... crime because a motor vehicle is a source of crime,” Lesufi said.

According to the bill, those who print and issue licence plates will also be regulated so forgeries can be easily identified.

But such technology comes at a cost to the taxpayer and motorists, said AA spokesperson Layton Beard.

“It is taxpayers and consumers who need to pay for these things. How much are these new number plates going to cost? I can imagine they are going to be more expensive,” Beard said.

At the moment, number plates in Gauteng cost about R160.

Beard said he is not sure whether the change is necessary.

“We need to find out the problem at the moment. We know the issue of cloning, but it is an issue that requires better traffic enforcement.”

Outa said number plate cloning is a serious matter, with CEO Wayne Duvenage saying it impacts the e-toll system and Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) matters.

He said if the move reduces crime and improves compliance, the organisation will welcome it.

“We have to get on top of the problem. I don’t think it is the wrong thing to do,” Duvenage said.

Lesufi did not elaborate further on how the system will be rolled out, but Beard and Duvenage assume it will be phased in, similar to the previous number plate change.

“This will mean that for the next five to eight years 80% of Gauteng number plates will be in a new format. This is a good thing as long as it is robust and achieves what it sets out to achieve. But if everyone must have a new number plate within a specific period of time, then it will be an additional cost,” said Duvehage.

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