Proposed 6% increase in motor vehicle licence fees

Statement by Donald Grant, Minister of Transport and Public Works

The Provincial Government gazette has published the draft regulation pertaining to motor vehicle licence (MVL) fee increases in the province. The draft regulation is now open for public comment for a period of 30 days. While not required by law, we have continued to publish these draft regulations for comment so as to allow the over 1.7 million vehicle owners in the Western Cape the opportunity to submit their comments. This year, the proposed fee increases amount to an average 6% increase for the Western Cape.

The Western Cape Government relies on vehicle licence fees to:

• Build, upgrade and maintain the provincially-owned road network.
• Assist municipalities to fund the maintenance of their more strategic roads.
• Continue to reduce the maintenance backlog, which has been decreased by 16.2% over the last 6 years.

These fees, along with budgetary allocations, help keep the Province’s roads in a condition significantly above that of other provinces, with many visitors to this province attesting to this freely and frequently. Our roads are an asset with an approximate value of R68 billion and they are consumed, over time, by the over 1.7 million vehicle owners in the Western Cape and other users

National Treasury Regulation 7.3.1 requires that all fees that are not or cannot be fixed by any law and that relate to revenue accruing to the revenue fund must be reviewed annually and submitted to the Cabinet via the Provincial Treasury.

The draft regulation has been published in the Provincial Gazette Extraordinary 7704 dated 15 November 2016 for public comment for a period of four weeks. The closing date for comment is Thursday, 15 December 2016.

The draft regulation proposing the new motor vehicle registration and licence fees, as well as other information, will be available on https://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/premier/prov-gazette-extra_7704-licence-fees-15-nov-2-16.pdf

All comments can be submitted to:

Head of Department
Attention: Mr Randal Barreiro
Western Cape Government Transport and Public Works
PO Box 2603
Cape Town
8000

Email: Randal.Barreiro@westerncape.gov.za
Fax: (021) 483 7112