As soon as this weekend, new Cape Town vehicle number plates will start with the letters CAA.

From the time of the changeover to the new CAA licence mark, no more CA licence numbers will be issued. Vehicle owners who currently have a CA licence number will be able to have this number transferred to another vehicle they own, or to another vehicle that is transferred into their names.

At the moment that available CA combinations run out, the system will not permit new licence numbers to be issued for the rest of that day. Anyone waiting for a new licence mark will have to wait until the next business day for a CAA number to be issued.

This disruption is unavoidable for technical reasons, and members of the public are requested to be patient with registering authorities on the day of the changeover.

As is customary, the first 9999 CAA numbers will be reserved as special licence numbers.

With an ordinary application, the system will automatically issue a number starting from CAA10000 at no additional cost.

Applications for special licence numbers will be processed at the applicable rate for certain combinations of numbers and letters.

Details of these fees can be found at the Department of Transport and Public Works website https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/new-caa-licence-numbers.