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AfriForum is calling on the relevant government departments to crack down on the large-scale crime exposed within the number plate industry. This follows various recent media reports regarding number plate dealers issuing plates without proof of vehicle registration, as well as the detection of large numbers of counterfeit and cloned plates by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and private security companies.

Moreover, these revelations come amidst the Competition Tribunal’s prosecution of three number plate manufacturers. According to the Competition Commission, the manufacturers formed a “cartel”.

AfriForum argues that lax law enforcement in the number plate industry enables criminals to commit numerous preventable violations and get away with it. The organisation therefore maintains that law enforcement by the national and provincial departments of transport, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) must be urgently stepped up to combat these offences.

AfriForum calls for the following measures, among others:

·The Competition Tribunal’s prosecution of the three number plate manufacturers must be concluded as soon as possible, and guilty parties must face appropriate consequences.

·The SABS and provincial departments of transport must urgently process outstanding registration applications from number plate dealers. Registration renewals must also be handled more efficiently.

·Number plate dealers who neglect to register must be shut down, and manufacturers supplying blank plates to unregistered dealers must be prosecuted.

·Illegal number plate manufacturers must be prosecuted, and equipment confiscated where necessary.

·Once law enforcement is successfully implemented, new technology should be introduced to prevent the further counterfeiting of number plates.

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport recently announced that the province’s project to introduce new number plates has been put on hold. This follows AfriForum’s insistence that the process be halted pending the prosecution of identified number plate manufacturers.

According to AfriForum spokesperson Louis Boshoff, suspending the implementation of a new number plate system in the province was the right decision. He maintains that this serves as proof that public pressure can yield results. “AfriForum, other civil society groups, and various law-abiding stakeholders in the number plate industry have been warning for months that illegal activity is rife within the sector,” Boshoff explains. “It is time for the relevant ministers and government departments to take heed of these warnings.”

Issued by AfriForum