Khangale Makhado

Khangale Makhado

Limpopo provincial government continues to issue illegal car registration number plates to motorists in breach of its own laws.

In March Limpopo MEC for roads and transport Justice Pitso, pictured, announced that the current number plates would have to be canned because they were illegal.

Pitso added that the old-new number plates had not been approved by the South African Bureau of Standards.

The number plates, bearing the letter L, had replaced those bearing the letter N.

When he made the announcement two months ago, Pitso said he expected the matter to have been resolved by the end of last month.

However, it came to light yesterday that the department continues to issue the wrong plates to new motorists, despite them being declared illegal. It seems the matter will have to wait to be rectified.

Departmental acting spokesman Obed Langa yesterday said they hoped to finalise the new plates, which would be compliant with bureau standards within the next three months.

Langa said th ey would continue issuing the plates in their current state. He said material for security features had to be imported.

This means motorists in Limpopo faced with yet again having to replace vehicle number plates, would have to wait for at least another three months before they can queue all over again.

In 2005 motorists had to stand in line at the traffic stations to convert old number plates to new ones in line with the provincial name change from Northern Province to Limpopo.

Little did the motorists know then that those plates, introduced by the provincial government after being gazetted, fell short of the standards because they bore an old emblem and no security features.

It is not known yet if motorists will be compensated for the money spent getting incorrect plates - even if new.