By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Sipho Hlomuka launched a new number plate system to create one common identity for the province.
Dube-Ncube on Friday said the shift was deemed necessary to align the province with other regions and the national numbering system, while addressing the issue of towns running out of available numbers.
Emphasising the importance of this paradigm shift, the Premier said the new numbering system will come with improved security features, which will assist in the fight against crime.
To ensure a seamless transition, the implementation was planned in two phases, with the first phase starting on Friday, focusing on the registration of new vehicles, change of ownership, and re-registration of stolen-recovered vehicles.
This initial step lays the groundwork for the subsequent phases of the comprehensive rollout.
The second phase, which is set to commence on 1 March 2024, will encourage the voluntary migration of all vehicle owners from the existing system to the new one.
Vehicle owners have been given a 24-month window to complete this migration, after which all motor vehicles will automatically be issued with a new format licence number upon licensing.
Hlomuka thanked Dube-Ncube and various stakeholders.
He said ordinarily people do not like change, but the leadership has a responsibility to educate and transform people.
Dube-Ncube and Hlomuka then conducted a test of the readiness of the Electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis).