Durban — The one good thing that can be said for the launch of KwaZulu-Natal’s new number plate system is that the process has been smooth.

Independent on Saturday has tested and found it to be “a surprisingly quick, easy and painless process”. But this was a limited roll-out for the registration of new vehicles, change of ownership and re-registration of stolen or recovered vehicles only.

And the launch took place in December, when vehicle licensing centres would not be at their busiest.

The true test of the infrastructure backing the change will only come in March, when the owners of all other vehicles will be required to begin migrating from the current to the new system.

A suitable explanation for the change, which will cost motorists R400 per vehicle in new plates, is yet to come, however.

It is difficult to conceive how, with 1 million possible combinations of 6-digit numbers, towns can run out of numbers for vehicles registered in their precincts. And if that did happen, what’s wrong with 5-digit numbers, and then four digits and so on as required?

Three-letter towns, hampered by having one less digit on plates, could be incorporated into nearby two-letter towns and cities for registration purposes.

We are also yet to learn what safety features the new plates contain which prevent cloning. Unless all plates are pressed at a single source, the possibility of cloning remains high.

As for creating social cohesion using province-identifying plates, the less said the better.

The current town- and city-identifying plates are also surely better from a law-enforcement perspective.

How much easier would it be for police to look for a white Toyota Corolla with NKR plates, than to look for one with ZN plates, which all white Corollas in the province would carry?

The KZN government’s claim to have consulted widely before implementing the change is also moot. Having established December 1 as the launch date, any consultation thereafter would have been a check-the-box exercise instead of meaningful engagement.

Independent on Saturday