License plate (South Africa)

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License plates in South Africa vary from province to province. Depending on the province, black, blue or green lettering is used on a white background. For some provinces, the background contains a stylized image of the province and a typical provincial motto . Older license plates were black on yellow.

future

Probably in 2017 ^[obsolete] , new license plates will be issued in partially changed colors and uniform display features. The license plates must meet the following criteria in all provinces:

• Font color
  • Blue - general vehicles and personalized license plates
  • Black - vehicles in public transport
  • Red - government vehicles
  • Green - diplomatic vehicles

• Components
  • South African flag on top left
  • Name of the province under the flag
  • Provincial license number and license mark
  • Barcode with QR code of the manufacturer of the blank license plate
  • Consecutive number at the bottom left

Current

The current scheme is XXX 999 - P , where X stands for a letter (consonant), 9 for a number and P for the provincial abbreviation . Shorter license plates are possible, for example on motorcycles. Desired labels, which often contain a word or something similar, are also possible. The provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, on the other hand, have developed their own schemes.

The FE font known from German license plates has also been used since 1994 .

In all provinces there are numerous registration districts that assign the preceding letters, for example CA in the Western Cape for Cape Town or ONLY for Natal Umhlanga Rocks .

number	province	Abbreviation	Standard scheme	Example identifier	colour	Graphics
1	Western Cape Wes-kaap (Western Cape)	WP (*)	xxxx # WP	Cx 123-456	black on white	no
2	Northern Cape Noord-Kaap (North Cape)	NC	xxx # NC		green on white	Oryx and sand dune
3	Eastern Cape Oos-Kaap (Eastern Cape)	EC	xxx # EC		black on graphic	Elephant and aloe
4th	KwaZulu-Natal	ZN	Nxx #	2157 ONLY	blue on white (green on white for desired license plate)	no
5	Free State Vrystaat (Free State)	FS	xxx # FS		black on graphic	cheetah
6th	North West Noordwes (Northwest)	NW	xxx # NW		black on graphic	Corn on the cob, sunflower, elephant, mine
7th	Gauteng	GP	xxx # GP xx # xx GP		blue on white	Provincial coat of arms
8th	Mpumalanga	MP	xxx # MP		black on white	rising Sun
9	Limpopo (formerly Northern Province)	N to 2005 L	xxx # L		black on white	Baobab and provincial coat of arms

• x stands for a letter
• # stands for one or more numbers

Special identifier

Police license plate

The vehicles of the police, military and public administration fit into the usual scheme, but can be recognized by their own "province" abbreviation.

Abbreviation	meaning
B.	police
D.	Diplomatic Corps
G	State authorities and government (government)
M.	Military vehicles

Historical

Cape Province before 1975

Homeland Lebowa

Natal Province

Cape Province (black on white)

Before 1994, a different numbering scheme was used according to the old administrative structure. Black license plates with white lettering were issued until 1975 before the color scheme changed to black to yellow (later also white). The numbers began with a province / district abbreviation, followed by up to six digits. Depending on the province, the exact registration location of the vehicle could be drawn from the sequence of letters. In addition, the ten homelands also issued their own license plates.

Abbreviation	Province / Homeland
C.	Cape Province
G	Ciskei and Gazankulu
K	KwaNdebele
L.	Lebowa
N	Natal Province
O	Orange Free State
T	Transvaal
V	Venda
W.	QwaQwa
X	Transkei
Y	Bophuthatswana
Z	KwaZulu

Web links

Commons : License plates from South Africa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• kingkong.demon.co.uk

Individual evidence

1. ↑ New number plates for SA: 5 things you need to know. Wheels24, June 1, 2017.
2. ↑ Personalize your motor vehicle number plate. South African Government. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
3. ^ Motor Vehicle Registering Authorities. Western Campe Government. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
4. ^ Western Cape Vehicle Registration Numbers. MyCape. Retrieved December 3, 2016.