Fake Plates Helping Criminals Evade Detection

Statement by Toby Chance MP – DA Spokesperson on Trade, Industry & Competition:

The DA has written to Ministers Tau, Creecy and Acting Minister Cachalia to urgently establish an inter-ministerial task team to deal with a national safety and crime crisis: fake and illegal number plates which make tracing vehicles used in crime almost impossible.

South African road users are the ultimate victims of a number plate scam being perpetrated, as criminals driving vehicles with illegal number plates cannot be traced or tracked by the CCTV infrastructure on our road network.

South African vehicle number plate embossers manufacture and supply an estimated 250,000 number plates every month. Of these, according to LAZA, the Number Plate Association of South Africa, the accredited industry body, up to 60% may be illegal.

This alarming statistic was disclosed by the Business Day today.

Since LAZA alerted the Democratic Alliance to this problem in April 2025, we have been urging the relevant authorities to take action to close down the illegal vehicle number plate supply chain.

After sustained pressure from the DA, in March 2026 the Competition Commission referred allegations of price-fixing by the three manufacturers of blank number plates to the Competition Tribunal. The Tribunal is yet to rule on the matter.

But this is the tip of the iceberg. The manufacturers are supplying the embossing machines to any number of uncertified embossers, who use them to produce the illegal number plates.

There are approximately 780 legally SABS-certified number plate embossers in South Africa and perhaps another 500 illegal embossers. These illegal embossers supply their plates with abandon to vehicle users, many of whom are driving without knowing they have been scammed.

The consequences extend beyond regulatory failure. Criminals are cloning legitimate number plates to commit crimes, leaving innocent vehicle owners to face arrest, fines, and police investigations for offences they did not commit.

This practice has been taking place under the noses of the DTIC, SABS, Department of Transport and SA Police Services for many years, not to mention all 9 provincial departments of transport, which are the main enforcing bodies. The practice is particularly present in Gauteng and KZN.

The DA insists that the three Ministers responsible seriously address this scandal, because it is aiding and abetting the commission of crime in South Africa.