Minister of Works and Transport Veikko Nekundi has acknowledged that not all number plate manufacturers in Namibia are registered.
Nekundi confirmed this in response to a question by PDM MP Winnie Moongo regarding the use of fake, cloned, and swapped vehicle number plates used to carry out robberies and other serious crimes.
While acknowledging the existence of unregistered number plate manufacturers, Nekundi stated that the Ministry recently activated part five of the Road Traffic and Transport Regulations, which deals with the registration for manufacturers of number plates and importers.
“These regulations were inactive for some time due to technical issues relating to their alignment with SADC standards. Honourable Speaker, as the Ministry of Works and Transport, we started consultations in the regions last month. We have almost completed the consultations, with only one region left. We will then proceed with the registration of these businesses and issue the new number plates accordingly.”
He said that the Ministry is currently in the process of improving all the number plates with new features.
“This is going to be the new feature for private vehicles. I’m going to demonstrate the different features. All public passenger transport, including taxis and long-distance transport, will have a different number plate. It will be blue, no longer yellow as it is currently. For diplomats, the number plates will also change. There will also be a different number plate for government vehicles, not police vehicles.”
Also responding to a question on the speed control cameras by SWAPO MP Werner Iita, the Transport Minister pointed out that the yellow pole cameras are a Namibian Police project currently subject to a court case.
With regard to cameras under the control of the Ministry and specifically those mounted between Arandis and Swakopmund and between Arandis and Usakos, all will be functional by the end of November this year.
“Subject to approval of our communications service license by the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia from 8 September 2026 for 14 days with no objections received and now in their internal processes, subject to the Metrology Act, 2022, Act No. 5 of 2022.”