Secure plates ready for 2010

Johannesburg, 09 Sept 2009

Intelligent number plates (INP) will be implemented in January 2010, says the Gauteng Department of Transport.

Gauteng roads and transport MEC Bheki Nkosi says the date for the roll-out of the INP project has been set and this would mark the end of several delays since the project was first announced in 2006.

The department previously stated it was waiting for a final decision on the project from the MEC, and that, while several other IT projects were delayed, the INP project was on track.

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.

The department's annual report, which is yet to be released, will also indicate what needs to be done, as well as outline the budget for the project and how it will continue, the department notes.

The INP was previously funded from the province's R75 million integrated safety and security budget. The MEC declined to confirm what the total cost for the project was, saying only that additional resources would be allocated accordingly.

The department previously stated the 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.

The 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 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 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research was still completing security features for the plate, and no implementation dates had been set.