The High Court of North West has ruled in favour of the Number Plate Industry and declared
the North West Department for Community Safety and Transport’s tender process for the
introduction and distribution of a securitized number plate system, be set aside (case
number M489/15).
After years of litigation, High Court Judge N. Gutta found that the process followed was in
the circumstances irregular, unfair and offensive to the constitutional rights of not only the
suppliers of blank number plates, but to the number plate industry at large.
The judge further stated that the North West Department for Community Safety and
Transport did not have the right to simply introduce a third party into a private
sector.
Retrone Road & Traffic Solutions (Pty) Ltd, the appointed distributer, has made no
significant investment in the industry and comparatively has little experience in the number
plate industry, yet it was given the power to control the number plate industry in the North
West Province for the introduction, securitization and distribution of the proposed new
number plate.
The court also found that from evidence on record, a picture emerged of pre-knowledge of
the tender by representatives of Retrone, which lend support to the finding of an ulterior
purpose.
It was further concluded that:
a. North West Provincial Gazettes no: 7515 of 11 August 2015 and no: 7732 of 14
February 2017 were reviewed and set aside.
b. The North West bid, dated 24 October 2013, and the award of the bid to Retrone Road
and Traffic Solutions were reviewed and set aside, in terms of section 6 of the
Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA).
The ruling was welcomed and Industry, who is supportive of a national securitized number
plate system, trusts that future negotiations would be an open consultation process that
would include all relevant role players and the public consumer.
Date of Judgment 19th September 2017.