Despite stating it is ready to roll-out electronic number plates across Gauteng in January 2010, the provincial Department of Transport says several aspects of the project are still outstanding.
With less than two months to go until its deadline, the department maintains its intelligent number plate system is ready and will meet the timeframe.
The department concedes there are several aspects which are still outstanding. Despite stating that costs would be communicated to motorists in time, the department says it has not finalised costs or security features, but says they will be completed in time for the roll-out.
“More details of the project and its benefits would be made public as part of the ongoing public participation and key stakeholder engagement process, which is currently under way,” says the department.
The electronic number plate system will place a number validation label on the rear window of vehicles, along with a bar code that traffic authorities will be able to scan. Number plate manufacturers will also have to be accredited and plates bolted onto vehicles with tamper-proof screws to prevent fraud.
Gauteng roads and transport MEC Bheki Nkosi previously announced the date for the roll-out of the project, marking the end of several delays since the project was first announced in 2006. However, the department says the security features are yet to be finalised and the pilot project is not yet complete.
The department previously stated the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was finalising the security features of the plates. The MEC noted that, while a pilot project had been running since 2007, the security aspects were part of an ongoing process and were critical to the success of the project.
Motorist cost
The fraud-proof plates form part of the province's R75 million integrated safety and security system. The department estimates that Gauteng will run short of number plates by the end of 2009, and says plans are in place to conclude regulations for the new plates.
The department says motorists can retain their current registration number, but that it would have to go through a renewal process so that their plates are manufactured within the new specifications. The cost and details of this process are also yet to be finalised.
Only registered and accredited service providers would be licensed to manufacture and emboss the new plates, and motorists would have to renew registration plates every five years. The key feature of the new number plate is that it would be made of aluminium material and would have unique security features, such as a 2D bar code mark and a passive electronic radio-frequency identification tag.
More delays?
Initiated in 2006, the project was announced by previous transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs in his 2007/8 budget speech. Jacobs then announced a six-month testing period of the audit trail of the new number plate would begin in August 2007, and that full-scale implementation was scheduled for 1 January 2008.
In July 2008, Jacobs announced the implementation of the project had been postponed to January 2009, once “extensive consultations” with stakeholders had been completed.
A model plate was presented to the MEC and a member of the Gauteng Portfolio Committee on Public Transport Roads and Works, and industry representatives, in 2008. It was announced the state attorney was also considering proposed regulations, following which the system would be tested for efficiency.
In March 2009, the department confirmed the implementation of the project had yet to begin. In May, the department said the CSIR was still completing security features for the plate, and no implementation dates had been set.
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