10 Oct 2023

 Ministry of Transport and Public Works does not have a system of dealing with vehicles that are no longer on the road. 

Speaking to BOPA in an interview, Ministry Public Relations Officer, Ms Doreen Motshegwa said vehicles which were obsolete were not removed from the register. 

Ms Motshegwa said such vehicles were rather kept as records. She said the system in use only allowed them to check for vehicles that were scrapped off, running, exported and also renewed vehicle licenses. 

She said to determine whether the vehicle was not on the road or not, the owner had to notify the Department of Transport and Road Safety about the condition of their vehicle through a letter or a police affidavit. 

That, Ms Motshegwa said enabled the department to exempt the owner from paying penalties once they decide to renew the license. 

Therefore, she said once in the system, a vehicle was assumed to be on the road until the owner notifies the director in writing. 

She said de-registration of vehicles was made at a fee of P75 though the vehicle registration number remained with the same data in the system. 

Ms Motshegwa said some vehicles registered with AAA could still be spotted on the roads while others were no longer running and some were de-registered. 

She said the system reflected all registered vehicles on the road with 971 948 vehicles registered as of September 14. 

She also said 897 447 vehicles were on the road while 71 551 have been exported. 

She further said 2 950 have been de-registered at the discretion of the owners. Ends