AfriForum presses Gauteng Department of Transport to disclose costs of new number plates

Soundbite: Louis Boshoff (English)

AfriForum today lodged an internal appeal with the Gauteng Department of Transport after the civil rights organisation’s application to obtain information on the proposed new number plates for the province was ignored. The Department did not respond to AfriForum’s initial application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) within the prescribed 30 days. AfriForum insists that the Provincial Department must disclose the proposed cost and associated re-registration costs of these number plates and announce the amount of time vehicle owners will have to replace their old number plates.

AfriForum also wants to know what research is behind the claims that the new number plates, which contain additional safety features, will improve overall road safety. According to Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer at AfriForum, no figures have been shared with the public on how many counterfeit number plates there are in the province and how many vehicles with counterfeit number plates are involved in crime. “As long as criminals can get away with driving without number plates on their vehicles, it will make no difference how good the required number plates are,” explains Boshoff. “So, the solution lies in better law enforcement – not new gimmicks.”

The new number plates are a project driven by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. These number plates have been installed on provincial government vehicles since June. It is assumed that this will be extended to the rest of the province’s vehicles by December.

“There are more than three and a half million vehicles in Gauteng. This means that the Premier wants to have around 7 million new number plates manufactured, but he is not even prepared to disclose how much it will cost – this is unacceptable,” Boshoff concludes.