Vehicle licence fees in the Western Cape are set to increase in June this year. This follows years where they have remained static, according to the province’s MEC for transport and public works, Robin Carlisle. “The Western Cape has not increased its vehicle registration and licence fees for seven financial years – from 2006 to 2013,” he said. “A decision was therefore taken to increase fees by an average of 5.3% this year which is still lower than the inflation rate of 5.7%.” Carlisle believes truck owners should consider registering their trucks in the Western Cape as despite the increase the fees are still lower than in many of the other provinces in the country. Citing some examples of comparative licence fees, he said licensing and registration fees in the Western Cape for trucks in the various categories were between R7146 and R7830 while in KwaZulu-Natal the cost was between R8883 and R9727. According to Carlisle, all money received from licence fees goes back to the transport network as his department uses the income to build, upgrade and maintain the provincially owned road network. It also helps municipalities to fund the maintenance of its more strategic roads. “The decision to increase fees was taken to allow us to alleviate the road maintenance backlog that was estimated at around R8m in 2011 in the province. To address the increasing backlog in road infrastructure maintenance and development, we have to increase the money pool and this is one way forward,” he said. Between 2001 and 2006 an average increase of about 10% per annum was made on registration and licensing fees in the province. CAPTION Licence fees in Western Cape to rise by an average of 5.3% in June.
