Motorists warned against illegal vanity plate scams in KwaZulu-Natal

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and Human Settlements has uncovered a racket on social media where personalised licence plates are being sold at up to four times more the official price.

Vehicle owners and motorists have been warned that illegally purchased number plates will be cancelled.

Siboniso Duma, MEC for the department, announced the crackdown on the  resale of vanity licence numbers, also known as personalised number plates, warning motorists tat it is illegal and that licence plates bought on social media for inflated prices will be cancelled.

Duma said the department's Motor Transport Services team on Thursday had uncovered an underground racket where personalised licence numbers were being sold on social media platforms for between R5,000 and R10,000. The official price, set exclusively by the national Minister of Transport, is R2,250.

“Unsuspecting motorists are being misled into paying exorbitant prices for something that is strictly regulated,” Duma said.

“This is illegal.”

Under the National Road Traffic Act, Regulation 28, only the MEC for Transport was empowered to establish a personalised licence number system in the province. Duma said he has delegated this authority to the Motor Transport Service's Choice Numbers Section, the sole body legally permitted to issue the numbers.

Motorists sign an acknowledgement of the conditions attached to ownership when personalised plates are issued. One such condition, Clause 13, states that any holder who no longer wishes to use a personalised licence number must return it to the MEC.

Duma said motorists selling their plates at inflated prices were in clear violation of this clause.

“Selling a personalised licence number indicates that the holder no longer requires it. As MEC, I will be exercising my authority by cancelling all numbers found to be illegally sold,” he warned.

Cancelled numbers will be returned to the pool and resold to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

The MEC condemned those running the illegal operation, describing them as driven by “greed and an excessive desire for wealth,” adding that such activities fuel corruption and undermine public trust in the department.

“It is for these reasons that I am acting firmly,” Duma said.

When KwaZulu-Natal introduced the new number plate system in line with the national regulations, motorists bemoaned losing their town-specific licence plates, especially the coveted three-digit plates for areas like uMhlanga Rocks and surroundings (NUR) and the Upper Highway and surroundings (NU).

This extended to motorists using vanity plates, as they cost more than the normal plates. Vanity plates belong to the motorist and not the vehicle or any third party. Despite these known regulations, people still buy coveted number plates and reserve them for reselling.

_{How to buy a personalised number plate}

1. Check if the plate you want is available.

2. Apply through the provincial eNatis office.

3. Pay a once-off fee for the custom number reservation, plus a fee to have the actual physical plate made.

4. You will receive a certificate proving you are the legal holder.

5. You can use the plate on any vehicle you personally own.

_{What is illegal?}

1. Vanity plates cannot be sold or transferred between private individuals.

2. A personalised plate cannot be sold on the open market.

3. You cannot buy someone else’s personalised registration number.

4. You may not reserve a personalised plate for the purpose of reselling it.

5. A personalised plate can only be reassigned to a different vehicle owned by the same person.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE