New GP number plates unveiled
2009-11-13 07:49
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Transport
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Johannesburg - The plastic number plates of all Gauteng-registered vehicles will have to be replaced with aluminium plates within the next four years.
According to the Gauteng provincial government, the new number plates will cost R50 more than the current plates.
Plastic number plates cost between R50 and R70 each, but the price is not regulated.
The provincial government has been promising for two years to introduce the new plates, but nothing has happened until now.
Present series to run out
Bheki Nkosi, MEC for roads and transport, said on Wednesday in an answer to a question in the legislature that the province is compelled to intervene, as the present registration numbers (series) will run out during the World Cup next year.
He also believes the new number plates will help to reduce crime.
The province wants to hamper forgery, improve the regulation of the manufacturing of number plates, and link each individual number plate to an individual vehicle owner.
According to the new system, new registration numbers will consist of a series of two letters, two numbers and two letters, ending with the letters "GP".
The new number plates will be equipped with a 2D barcode and a passive electronic chip. Vehicle owners will be able to keep their current registration numbers, but will still need to switch to the new aluminium number plates.
According to Nkosi, the manufacturing process will start on February 1 2010 and must be finished before November 1 2013.
The transition to the new system will cost R32m.
New IT system
Musa Manganyi, a deputy director in the department managing the project, said this will be spent on research, the design of the number plates, consultation, the registration of the manufacturers and printers of the number plates, as well as a new information technology system.
Using the new IT system, the government will be able to see where and by whom each number plate has been manufactured, as well as identify the details of the vehicle and its owner.
Gauteng has given a limited number of businesses permission to make the new number plates.
Three businesses will be making the reflective material, six will manufacture the blank number plates, and 204 will print the registration numbers.
Owners of vehicles whose registration numbers start with a "B" or "C" will be the first to have to replace their number plates.
The rest will follow alphabetically.