MOTORING NEWS - The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) plans to modernise South Africa’s vehicle licensing system by replacing physical licence discs with a digital alternative linked to number plates.
Pretoria Rekord reports that the proposed system is part of wider efforts to digitise road traffic administration and strengthen law enforcement capabilities.
RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane says more details will be provided when the development is finalised.
No implementation date has been announced.
Zwane says the move is driven by the need to keep pace with global technological developments and to address weaknesses in the current licensing system.
“The world is moving towards digitisation and it is imperative that we also keep pace with modernisation,” he says.
“There are many challenges with the current system, the main one being corruption involving the production of fake discs on the black market,” says Zwane.
Under the proposed model, traffic officers would use electronic devices capable of instantly accessing vehicle information via number plate recognition technology.
Zwane says the RTMC has already introduced e-force gadgets, which law-enforcement officers use to issue traffic fines electronically.
According to Zwane, these devices can retrieve information such as vehicle ownership details, registered addresses and outstanding traffic violations.
The planned digital licensing system is expected to integrate with these technologies, removing the need for motorists to display physical licence discs on their windscreens.
“Everything will be digital,” Zwane says.
Concerns about data security have been considered, says Zwane, noting that vehicle ownership information is already stored on the National Traffic Information System.
“The system will reduce corruption, modernise systems and improve traffic law enforcement,” Zwane says.
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