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New GP Plates

Posted on: 01 March 2010

The Gauteng Province has a new number plate system ready to take over from the existing and almost full solution.

All number plates in the province must be changed within four years as a new four - letter, two - digit system will replace the old 3-digit, 3-number system.  The reason for existing plates being changed is to ensure that all cars are fitted with 'tamper proof' aluminum plates - existing vehicles will however retain their current registration.

The new system will see Gauteng's rather elegant GP number plates retaining their existing look but the plates will henceforth compromise a pair of letters followed by a pair of numbers before another two letters, the provincial crest and of course GP.  The new system will also be color coded in blue for standard numbers, green for personalized numbers, red for government fleet and black for public transport.

The change will allow the province to register close to 200 - million vehicles versus the current land all but used up almost 9 - million number variations.

The cost per vehicle for number plates will be up from around R60 to about double that amount.  Currently registered vehicles existing plastic number plates must be replaced with aluminum versions within the next four years although existing registration numbers will not change.

The new metallic plates equipped with a 2D barcode and a passive electronic chip will be riveted to the vehicle in an effort to rid the province of registration crime and corruption and who knows - maybe bring an end to that 'Gangster Paradise' nickname.

A limited number of businesses have permission to manufacture the new plates with three companies making the reflective material, six manufacturing the metallic blanks and 204 others printing the registration numbers.

It is the third time in 30 years that Gauteng number plates have changed.  Until the mid - 70s, local registration numbers comprised a town code (TJ for Johannesburg. TP for Pretoria. TRG for Randburg etc.) but the 6- digit TJ plates approached the 1- million mark forcing the then Transvaal Province to adopt the a computerized 3- letter, 3- digit system.

Those black-on yellow plates were replaced by the existing GP version on a similar system in the early 1990s, but now those over 9-million variations (the system used the letters of the alphabet less the vowels A, E, I, O, and U and also Q) are all but used up and the new system, which caters for closer to 200 - million variations is now set to take over.

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