NEW NUMBER PLATES FOR GAUTENG POSTPONED AGAIN

At one stage, it seemed as if it was going to be a case of new-year new-licence-plates for Gauteng, but that date has now been pushed out to the end of 2025.

The Gauteng Department of Transport’s announcement that the new number plates will oly be available from next year was met with backlash as the department has been promising the new plates for more than a year already.

Although the look and feel of the plates have still not been revealed to the public or the media, a few details have been shared.

The Department said the new number plates form part of a campaign to stop cloning number plates in the province. A QR code will be added to every number plate.

This QR code will be linked to the national vehicle database, hopefully making it more difficult to clone the plate.

The new designs will use the same alphanumeric combination. The letter and number combination is currently being used on the outgoing plates and won’t be changed now, as the Department says it has enough codes to last until 2038.

Other new features will also be included to help with crime prevention, like the national flag instead of the provincial emblem on the province’s plates.

For now, Gauteng seems to be the only province in the country to undergo these changes. If the new design is successful in combatting crime, it could be rolled out to the other eight provinces as well.

Image credit: Gauteng Tourism Authority