Cross –border vehicle theft is one of the major contributors to vehicle loss in South Africa. Sharing the highly advanced eNaTIS system with neighbouring counties can assist in tracking stolen vehicles and reduce cross-border theft!
Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele on Tuesday handed over the National Transport Information System (eNaTIS) to Namibia.
“Car theft is one of the scourges we have… the system will also allow the tracking of hijacked vehicles,” said Ndebele.
He and his Namibian counterpart Errki Nghimtina said the electronic licensing system would help fight cross border crimes.
Ndebele’s department intends making eNatis available to all Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, to harmonise the system within the region and make it easier to deal with road traffic-related information.
Namibia would implement the new system rather than upgrade its existing system, which it adopted 1996, and would pay South Africa to train Namibian officials to use the system, said Nghimtina.
The South African system encountered teething problems after it was implemented with people recorded as dead when they were alive, and hacking attempts.
The Namibian transport department would have to ensure that it protected any eNaTIS system from any potential threats, like breaches of security or tampering of network links.
South Africa would also have unrestricted access to all the sites where the programme had been installed, said Ndebele.
“This is a milestone in our endeavour to secure safe and secure traffic registration and transaction systems in our countries… integration of SADC will happen through transport,” he said.
Talks with Lesotho were also at an advanced stage. Next would be Swaziland.
[Info from SAPA]
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Car Insurance and Vehicle Theft