Gauteng is set to introduce new number plates by the end of 2025, contingent on successful implementation of the project. The Gauteng Department of Transport (GDoT) has been promising these updates for over a year, but various delays have pushed the rollout timeline, with public availability now anticipated for late 2025.

What Will the New Number Plates Look Like?

While the new design of Gauteng’s licence plates has yet to be unveiled, the GDoT has shared some insights regarding their features. The new number plates will maintain the existing alphanumeric (letter and number) format, but with enhancements aimed at reducing crime in the province.

Plate cloning is a significant issue in South Africa, and Gauteng plans to tackle this problem by incorporating a QR code on each new plate. This code will connect to a national vehicle database, making it increasingly difficult to create counterfeit plates that can evade law enforcement detection.

In addition to the QR code, the new plates are expected to feature the national flag instead of the current provincial emblem. The GDoT indicated that the alphanumeric format will remain unchanged because the current code structure (AA 11 AA GP) has enough combinations to last until 2038. Once this format is exhausted, the province may need to introduce an additional numeral or entirely change the system.

A design concept, showcasing these elements, was published in a 2015 Government Gazette, which highlighted issues with the existing plates that were vulnerable to misuse by unregistered manufacturers. The new system aims to ensure that every vehicle and the associated manufacturer of its number plate is properly registered through the inclusion of QR codes. Although this initiative may eventually extend to all nine provinces, Gauteng will initially serve as the testing ground.

A Timeline of Delays

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi first announced in February 2023 during his State of the Province Address that new number plates with enhanced security features would be introduced to combat crime. In July 2023, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, the Gauteng MEC for Transport and Logistics, confirmed that the registration process for vehicle licence plate manufacturers had commenced.

However, by September 2023, when the GDoT had indicated that prototypes would be rolled out, this did not occur as planned. In November of that year, Dr. Thulani Mdadane, head of the GDoT, stated that Gauteng would receive its new vehicle identifiers by the end of 2023. This deadline was not met, and by February 2024, Premier Lesufi confirmed a new target date of April 1 for the plates’ release.

The latest update came in August, when MEC Diale-Tlabela announced the development of a prototype number plate recognition system, which is set to begin as part of a pilot program within the next six months. This update comes almost a year after the initial announcement about prototype plates, and the six-month rollout means the pilot program is likely to start at the end of the current financial year.

Given these timelines, it appears that the trial phase for the new recognition system will take several months, further delaying the introduction of the new plates to the public until late 2025 or beyond.