Gauteng Premier’s number plate lie

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s claim that cars spending over 30 days a month in the province need to have GP number plates is false.

The Gauteng Provincial Government launched a six-month pilot of the “smart” number plates last week, over two and half years after Lesufi first touted the government’s plan for new number plates.

The province has argued that the QR code and self-destructing decal on the plates will make them more resistant to cloning and counterfeiting, ultimately enhancing crime prevention and road safety.

Lesufi has repeatedly claimed in interactions with the public and media that cars spending 30 days in the province need to be registered in Gauteng.

In February 2024, he told eNCA that everyone who spent 30 consecutive days in Gauteng must register their vehicle in the province.

On another occasion, he said that “any vehicle from another province being in the province for more than 30 days would legally need to make the change to the new number plate system.”

According to the South African Vehicle Rental Leasing and Fleet Management Association (Savral), Lesufi’s argument is not supported by the current National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) legislation.

In a guidance note, it explained that the NRTA does not force motorists to reregister vehicles unless the owner has changed their permanent residence.

“The NRTA notes that individuals and businesses are required to register their vehicles at the appropriate registering authority,” Savrala explained.

With regard to individual registrations, the appropriate authority will be in whose area of jurisdiction a person permanently resides.

For businesses, the appropriate registering authority will be where they are situated, with every branch of a business considered as a separate business.

The legislation does not mention the need for a vehicle to be reregistered in another jurisdiction after operating there for 30 days or any other timeframe.

Savrala said that these regulations meant the Gauteng Premier could not legally demand a vehicle be registered in his province when it has been registered at the appropriate authority.

Re-registration also under fire

Lesufi’s insistence that all existing Gauteng vehicles be reregistered when the new plates are introduced has also been criticised widely by prominent organisations.

This includes the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), Driving.co.za, and the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA).

AA spokesperson Eleanor Mavimbela told MyBroadband that any additional administrative costs or burdens on motorists must be fully justified.

“If the alphanumeric format of the number plates remains unchanged, the rationale behind a full re-registration process is unclear,” Mavimbela said.

“Without a compelling explanation, this move is tantamount to a revenue-generation exercise rather than a targeted effort to address crime or enhance road safety.”

Outa has also warned that making the new number plates mandatory could drive an exodus of businesses from the province.

“Many businesses, most certainly fleet rental and leasing companies, have registered offices in other provinces of the country,” explained Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage.

“Any inconvenience and significant additional cost of this nature, will most probably drive these companies to register their new vehicles in other provinces, without transgressing any laws in doing so.”

Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield-Jones echoed Outa’s warnings of a registration migration.

He argued a scrapped plan to increase vehicle licence and driving licence card fees in KwaZulu-Natal more than a decade ago should trigger caution.

“I had it on good authority at the time that a couple of the big hauliers told the ANC that they would move their entire KZN operations to other provinces if any such thing went ahead,” Handfield-Jones said.

“The ANC did not want additional joblessness and an economic hit in what was then their electoral heartland. Needless to say, the plan was quietly dropped.”

Handfield-Jones said with companies facing considerable unbudgeted costs to reregister all their Gauteng vehicles, they might be tempted by the lower registration costs in adjacent provinces.