Lesufi announces number plate plan for Gauteng’s motorists

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi announced on Tuesday that new vehicle registration plates will be introduced from April 1.

He was speaking at an event to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Gauteng government and technology firm Vumacam, which gives the province access to the feed from the company’s 6,900 cameras spread across the province.

“From April 1, we are revamping registration of all the cars in Gauteng. We are starting afresh, all of us. Every person that has a car must re-register and get a new registration number that cannot be copied and is reliable, so that we know what is happening in our province,” Lesufi said, according to a TimesLIVE report.

The new registration plates form part of the premier’s campaign to fight crime. 

“We are in a trial stage with all government cars having new number plates. We will unveil these number plates on Monday. Everyone must register their vehicle. If you spend 30 consecutive days in Gauteng, it means your car must be registered in Gauteng,” the premier said.

However, various stakeholders that Business Day spoke to said the plates were unlikely to be introduced on April 1. The Gauteng department of roads and transport are tasked with implementing the new registration plates, but no-one at the department could confirm whether the necessary preparations were in place for the April 1 launch. 

Furthermore, the DA’s Gauteng shadow MEC for roads and transport, Fred Nel, told Business Day that though he was aware of the plan, nothing had been published in the Government Gazette and there was much still to do to ensure proper implementation, including finalising SA Bureau of Standard (SABS) specification for licence plate manufacturers and training traffic officials on the new plates. 

The premier’s spokesperson, Lesiba Mpya, said: “Though from an operational perspective much still has to be implemented, we should consider the premier’s announced date as official.”