The City’s Traffic Service is appealing to businesses that manufacture vehicle number plates to follow the correct procedures and have their business registered. Motorists are fined on a regular basis for not displaying the correct number plates. Number plates should be manufactured according to prescribed standards.
The City of Cape Town Traffic Service is encouraging unregistered number plate manufacturers to register their businesses and comply with legislated standards set out for number plate manufacturers and distributors. The proliferation of unregistered and undocumented number plate manufacturers has resulted in the increased usage of unlawful number plates on the city’s roads. This in turn has increased the number of fines issued for displaying incorrect number plates.
The City’s Traffic Service has started education and awareness sessions with manufacturers – the first of these was held on Tuesday, 12 April 2022, bringing together industry experts and officials from the City’s enforcement agencies, the National Department of Transport and South African Police Service.
The training session highlighted the need for compliance and enforcement measures aimed at unlawful manufacturers and the fitment of illegal number plates. The practical component of the training saw officials visiting an unregistered number plate manufacturer in the Cape Town CBD. The manufacturer was unable to produce a registration certificate from the Provincial Transport Department and the South African Bureau of Standards. The visit formed part of an initial education drive, aimed at promoting voluntary compliance in the industry.
The National Road Traffic Act, the Western Cape Provincial Department of Transport and Public Works and the South African Bureau of Standards regulate the manufacture and sale of number plates. Businesses can register as number plate manufacturers and distributors directly with these departments.
The City’s Traffic Service uses the technologically advanced Automated Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) to enforce the relevant legislation, and ensure number plate compliance. The technology is used at roadblocks where an ANPR camera is mounted on a tripod.
In addition to ANPR, the Traffic Service also implemented the Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) camera systems on Nelson Mandela Boulevard and the M5.
The cameras have been used as part of Operation Reclaim and are programmed to identify the following:
• Outstanding warrants of arrest on a particular number plate
• Whether a motor vehicle has been suspended
• Mismatched number plates (plates that do not belong to that particular vehicle)
• Unlicensed vehicles
• Stolen vehicles
‘We would like to encourage number plate manufacturers to ensure compliance and have the necessary documentation at hand when visited by traffic officers. Equally important is that motorists should ensure that they purchase plates at registered businesses and display standardised plates on their vehicle. Motorists should not forget that ignorance will not hold as an excuse when fined or appearing in court. We all have a role to play in ensuring that our vehicles display number plates that are legal and compliant, ’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security Alderman JP Smith.
Source: City Of Cape Town