City Police Community Policing Officer
The Windhoek City Police has raised concern over motorists who knowingly and unlawfully use fake number plates and duplicated numbers on more than one vehicle.
Evidence suggests that displaying unregistered number plates is mostly common among those purporting to be taxi drivers, but who are in fact operating illegally. This illegal practice does not only effect the business of legitimate taxi operators, but also impacts the safety of unsuspecting passengers who rely on taxis as a mode of transport. Our statistics have established that fake number plates are often used when people want to carry out criminal activities. We have responded to cases where illegal taxi drivers robbed customers after driving them to poorly-lit or isolated areas. Recently, we managed to arrest four suspects who were terrorising students in the areas of NUST and UNAM, robbing them of their valuables such as cell phones and laptops, using a fake taxi affixed with fake number plates. Therefore, we would like to encourage legitimate taxi operators and the public at large to inform the police if they come across a vehicle using the same number plate as that of their registered vehicle.
In terms of the Road Traffic and Transport Act, a person who operates vehicles for which the operator is not registered, and displays a number plate which is not applicable to that vehicle, will be fined and dealt with accordingly.
It is against this background that the City Police department will from time to time carry out random operations aimed at rooting out fake taxis and vehicles which are displaying false number plates. Drivers who are operating unregistered and unlicensed public transport vehicles on a public road are, therefore, warned to desist from such practices and follow due processes.