JOHANNESBURG - Two years later and there's no sign of the much-publicised new number plates for vehicles in Gauteng.
Authorities said this is a result of the high-tech number plate pilot project hitting a stumbling block, further delaying the rollout.
This was according to MEC for Roads and Transport Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, who touched on the project on Thursday when she tabled the 2026/2027 provincial Budget Vote.
According to Diale-Tlabela, during the 2023/2024 financial year, the department developed a prototype for the new number plate system.
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She said between the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years, they piloted the new system using 300 government vehicles.
That pilot process concluded in March 2026. But months later, there is a delay.
"The pilot process identified several system limitations requiring further technical improvements."
In 2025, during the launch, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, alongside Diale-Tlabela, assured the public that the number plates, which had technological enhancements, were designed to combat vehicle theft, fraud, and cloning, while improving road safety, and offered a glimmer of hope. Fast forward to 2026, those number plates ceased to exist.
At the time, they revealed that the system would be piloted using g-Fleet vehicles affixed with the technologically advanced new number plates as part of the six-month stress testing project, before the provincial rollout.
READ | New number plates take on crime with built-in tech
Now, Diale-Tlabela said the broader rollout will only resume once these limitations have been addressed and the necessary national legislative and regulatory processes have been finalised by the relevant executive and legislative authorities.