" Where are the smart plates? "
Gauteng transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs last
June announced the province would implement a new, secure, number plate system
from January.
Ten months after the announcement, and four
since New Year, there's still no sign of the new fraud-proof plates that form
part of the region's R75 million integrated safety and security system.
Jacobs announced the introduction of the
security feature plates in his budget speech last June. In September, his
department said a pilot project to test the new “intelligent number plate
system” was already under way. A spokesman said: “Full-scale implementation is
scheduled for 1 January 2008.”
The same spokesman, Alfred Nhlapo, now says
the “project is still being pursued and extensive consultation is currently
taking place”.
He adds this “includes an internal testing of
various models of the securitised plate, subject to approval”.
According to projections, the permutations of
the current number plate system “are only likely to run out in mid-2009, but the
project team is looking at finalising it [the secure plate roll-out] within the
current financial year [that ends 31 March 2009]”.
Not so welcome
The initial announcement was met with uproar
as Gauteng motorists were expected to replace their current number plates at
their own expense. It was reported that, when introduced, the Gauteng government
had neglected to put in place any control measures to prevent fraud, safeguard
the uniqueness of each number plate set and guarantee that the correct plates
are affixed to the correct car.
As a result, thousands of vehicles have false
number plates that allow criminals to evade the law and speedsters to defy
paying fines. Johannesburg Metro Police's director for licensing, prosecutions
and courts, Gerrie Gernecke, last year estimated that up to 10 000 vehicles in
Johannesburg alone had false plates.
The city has since spent R131 million on an
“integrated end-to-end infringement management system” to force errant motorists
to pay up, which Gernecke said was a success.
According to Nhlapo, a number validation label
will be placed on the rear window of vehicles under the new system and will
include a bar code that traffic authorities will be able to scan. It will also
require number plate manufacturers to be accredited and plates to be bolted onto
vehicles with tamper-proof screws.
DA Gauteng leader Jack Bloom notes the
province needs to fix the problem before it and the SA National Roads Agency
Limited (Sanral) can turn most of its highways into automated toll roads.
The e-tag toll
Sanral toll and traffic manager Alex van
Niekerk says tolling the N1 between Pretoria and Johannesburg, as well as the
ring-road around the latter, would help pay for a R22 billion upgrade to the
region's congested roads. He adds that e-tag-enabled tolling would start in late
2010 or early 2011.
DA Gauteng transport spokesman James Swart
says the longer the implementation takes the better.
“I'm not convinced the new tags are going to
make a significant difference to crime or vehicle registration. It is simply an
added expense to the motorist, another scheme that looks all nice in theory, but
is not well considered.”
Source: [ it web ]
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