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AfriForum welcomes the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport’s decision to put the province’s new number plate system on hold. This plan would have forced owners of the province’s more than 5 million registered vehicles to acquire new number plates. AfriForum has threatened legal action if the department proceeds with the implementation of the system before the prosecution of the so-called number plate cartel has been concluded.

According to media reports Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Roads and Transport in Gauteng, made the announcement during her department’s 2026/2027 budget vote on Thursday. Diale-Tlabela claims that the number plate project has been put on hold after “several system limitations” were identified during the pilot project that require “further technical improvements.” She further said that the project will only resume once the limitations have been addressed and the necessary national legislative and regulatory processes have been finalised.

This sudden U-turn in the implementation of the number plate project comes after it was launched in June 2025 when the new number plates were fitted to 300 of the province’s fleet vehicles. Initially, the project was supposed to expand to all private vehicles in the province within six months.

However, towards the end of May this year, in a lawyer’s letter to the department AfriForum insisted that the project be put on hold pending the Competition Tribunal’s prosecution of three number plate manufacturers. The Competition Commission announced in March of this year that a cartel of blank number plate manufacturers has been active in the province since at least June 2023 and has been illegally fixing prices. The commission’s findings on price fixing between manufacturers have since been referred to the tribunal for prosecution.

In its letter to the department and Lesufi, AfriForum warned that it would bring a court application against the department if the demand to stop the project was not met.

Louis Boshoff, AfriForum Spokesperson, welcomes the department’s decision to halt the implementation of the project. He warns that the department would put vehicle owners in an unavoidable pinch with the implementation of the new number plates. “AfriForum has repeatedly pointed out the risks of the situation. Forcing vehicle owners to pay for new number plates, while the so-called number plate cartel would be lining their pockets and prosecution of those involved is still ongoing, would simply be irresponsible. As long as the case is still pending, there can be no certainty that new number plates will be provided at fair prices,” explains Boshoff.

Issued by: AfriForum