The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport is working on a process of introducing intelligence number plates (INP) system for the Gauteng province by April 2010. The new system is set to replace the current system that is expected to have exhausted its number series by end of October 2010 due to the large number of vehicle registrations in the province.
The new system is part of a smart crime-fighting initiative that will assist in curbing the practices of car-cloning and vehicle theft in the province. The system is also expected to improve the effectiveness of number plates policing thus eliminating the use of false number plates, monitor the manufacture of number plates and issuing of these number plates and improve collection of revenue due to improved vehicle identification.
The key features of the intelligent number plate system are:
* They will be made of aluminium material
* They will have unique security features such as 2-D barcode mark and passive electronic radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag
* Only registered and accredited service providers will be licensed to manufacture and emboss the new plates
* The number plates will have to be renewed after a period of five years
* To retain their current registration numbers, motorists will be allowed to, however, they will have go through a renewal exercise to ensure their number plates are manufactured within the new specifications
* The system allows for accountability through the implementation of an audit trail from the manufacturer to the embosser until the number plate reaches the owner.
The number plates are projected to cost an additional R50 to the current cost of purchasing a set. The price for a pair will range from R150 and R170 depending on the supply-demand market transactions; however, the department will be closely monitoring the situation to protect motorists from exorbitant pricing.
The intelligence features will greatly assist in eliminating the manipulation and duplication of number plates and this will ensure the credibility of number plates as a reliable vehicle identifier.
Issued by: Department of Roads and Transport, Gauteng Provincial Government
20 November 2009
Source: Department of Roads and Transport, Gauteng Provincial Government
(http://www.roadsandtransport.gpg.gov.za)
