The Gauteng government is leading the way with its proposal for hi-tech number plates that will allow the public and law enforcement authorities to instantly determine whether a number plate has been correctly issued.
As the cloning of number plates continues unabated, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi plans to ramp up security measures. Consultations with the private sector have started.
The new number plates for the province are expected to be rolled out in 2024. A government gazette in this regard was published on February 17. Plans for the new number plates date back to 2020 when the transport department made a presentation in parliament on the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill.
While consultations are ongoing, with various options of tech that can be implemented — microdot technology, holographic labels and radio frequency identification (RFID) — insiders claim a combination of RFID and near field communication (NFC), known as RAINFC, is the preferred choice.
The new plates are expected to be embedded with security technology which will be regulated, according to Lesufi's spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga.
“We are going to put security features in the number plates so they cannot be cloned, but also to mitigate the situation where anyone and everyone can just sell number plates.
“There will be features that will identify whether the number plate has been cloned or if it belongs to a specific vehicle.”
Mhaga said the province was also running out of numbers for plates.
According to a source, Gauteng is halfway through the numbers combinations that can be used for number plates, which are expected to be depleted by 2034.
Mhaga said the rollout of the new plates would coincide with the renewal of a person's vehicle licence.
Business Against Crime South Africa national project manager Roelof Viljoen said while he was not privy to what technology would be decided on, the preferred solution is “best product and process for everyone” and “best current technology”.
“What I hope for is a disruptive breakaway from the legacy to implement a robust solution impervious to corruption and fair to all role players.”
The best solution available is a RAINFC chip implanted in the blank plate, he said.
“The chip contains one data set made accessible through two radio protocols. The two radio protocols are ISO/IEC 18000-63 (RAIN) and ISO/IEC 15693 (NFC). RAIN provides for secure reading of the data at high speed (tested at 200km/h at a distance of eight metres) and NFC is the contactless protocol in mobile devices used to simulate contactless bank cards to point of sale (POS) devices.”
The RAIN part will supersede the use of cameras for remote vehicle identification while the NFC part will enable control of the number plate through its lifespan.
Viljoen said criminals do not use the original plate number on a vehicle to commit a crime.
“Criminals hold several number plates available to be affixed to vehicles once they are stolen.
“We have a huge problem with copied plates. The personalisation (adding of legible characters onto the blank plate) and the stock of blank plates is not controlled. Number plates are not uniquely identifiable.”
The proposed technology and personalisation process control will provide central knowledge of the full lifecycle of a number plate. This should help buyers know if a car is stolen and allow law enforcement to track the process from the issuing of the number plate to the end user.
— Roelof Viljoen, national project manager of Business Against Crime SA
The proposed technology and personalisation process control will allow ordinary people, through the use of NFC tech via an app on their smartphones to scan a number plate to determine whether it has been legally issued through the correct channels.
“The publicly available verification process will provide resources to strengthen law enforcement capabilities.”
Law enforcement authorities will be able to access further information about the number plate, exactly when and where it was issued and by which manufacturer. It will also allow law enforcement to see who the number plate was originally issued to. “Anomalies can be identified immediately and the appropriate action taken.”
Viljoen said while RAINFC technology exists on the market, research indicates it has yet to be implemented on number plates in other countries.
“Some US states have implemented RFID, but it's more for electronic display number plates.”
According to Kevin Peterson, CEO of Veridot, a company that works with unique asset identification, protection, recovery products and security systems, said the proposal was a good idea.
“If you are going to deploy a system that is going to be able to prove that a licence plate on a specific vehicle is authentic or if it is a bona fide licence plate issued by an authorised licence plate member — to stop the illegal issuing of licence plates, which is a big issue — then it's a good thing because it can aid and assist in combating widespread corruption and criminal activity.”
Peterson said due consideration should be given to find the best technology and system to assist government, law enforcement and the public.
The budget for the rollout of Gauteng's new number plates has yet to be announced and it remains unclear what the new plates would cost citizens.
A number plate in Gauteng now costs about R160.
An investigation by TimesLIVE Premium last year found it took two minutes, with no questions asked, to clone a number plate.
South African Number Plate Association CEO Zurika Louw said there is a serious lack of regulation of the industry.
“Regulation takes place at consumer level, via the metro police, when motorists are stopped for speeding, vehicle inspections or at roadblocks. The plastic number plates must be discontinued as they are too easy to copy compared to the aluminium number plates that require special equipment to emboss. There must be regulation of illegal manufacturers, as there are hundreds ... who are most definitely supplying criminals. No action is taken by law enforcement,” Louw said.
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