New number plates for Gauteng – relief for drivers as ‘launch’ date approaches

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi now says the province’s plans to roll out new number plates starting 1 April 2024 will only affect government vehicles on a pilot basis – with the general public getting on board at a later, undetermined date.

Delivering his State of the Province address on Monday (19 February), Lesufi said that the province’s new number plates support a national plan which still needs to be finalised by the National Department of Transport.

“The National Department of Transport has developed a draft legislative proposal for the harmonisation of national plates, which includes the security features we want on Gauteng’s new number plates,” he said.

He said that from 1 April 2024, the province would pilot its new “track and trace” system, which will roll out to government vehicles and then “later” to the general public once the transport minister finalised the bill.

This is contrary to the premier’s previous comments, where he said that effective 1 April, individuals who renew their license disc would also have to apply for a new number plate.

At the launch of the Gauteng-VumaCam partnership last week, Lesufi said that “we (Gauteng) 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.”

“Everyone must register their vehicle … If you spend 30 consecutive days in Gauteng, it means your car must be registered in Gauteng.”

This has now ostensibly been pulled back to only government vehicles being a part of a pilot from 1 April, with a full launch to the general public still to be determined.

We have asked the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport for further clarity on the new plates and the rollout and will update the article with its response if received.

The drive behind the new plates is purportedly safety and security.

The premier has noted repeatedly that the government is working to clamp down on its high crime levels, with the insistence that stolen and hijacked vehicles are “central” to crimes committed in the province.

“The majority of these vehicle use fake and duplicate number plates,” he said.

The premier said that the current number plate system is running out of numeric and letter numbers, and the province is using the opportunity to introduce new “high-tech” systems.

Regarding the harmonisation of national plates, the Department of Transport has been attempting to do so for almost a decade.

Read: ‘Everyone in Gauteng will have to re-register’ – new number plates launching soon