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Reader: W Cape fees a disgrace

We reported in February 2013 that the Western Cape is to publish draft regulations about motor vehicle licence fee increases.

The province increased licence fees by an average of 10% each year from 2001 to 2005/06 which led to the Cape having the most expensive vehicle licences in the country. However, they have not increased since then.

Wheels24 reader COLIN BUBB believes that Western Cape fees should be lowered to encourage more vehicle owners to register their cars, bakkies, buses and trucks in the province.

'BEARING THE BRUNT'

“I think it is a disgrace to increase licence fees even further in this province - we still have the highest fees in the country.

This, he says, is the main reason why so many businesses operating in the Western Cape register their vehicles in other provinces. Most national companies’ vehicles are registered either in Gauteng or Northern Cape, thus contributing nothing to fund their use of Cape roads.

Many private owners also now register their private vehicles under fictitious addresses in other provinces to benefit from lower licence fees.

Rather lower the fees to encourage more people to register in the Western Cape, says Bubb.

"I do admit that our roads are in better condition than most but our already high fees are paying for it. Once again, it’s the poor man-in-the-street sucker who will have to bear the brunt of such an increase because the big businesses will simply continue to licence their vehicles in the cheapest provinces.

"One only needs to drive in Cape Town central to see the high number of GP and NC licence plates despite advertising their addresses as local. A stranger could easily think he was in the wrong city!”

As required by Section 8(4) of the Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Administration Act, 2012 (Act 6 of 2012), the draft regulations will be published in the Provincial Gazette Extraordinary 7091 dated February 18 2013 for public comment for a period of four weeks.

The closing date for comment is March 18 2013.


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