Pretoria - South Africa has extended the use of the National Transport Information System (eNaTIS) to Namibia to help reduce car theft and cross border crimes between the two countries.
The two countries today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the agreement.
This means that authorities from the two countries will be able to access driver and vehicle details. This will also prevent stolen vehicles being registered in both countries and drivers can be held accountable for traffic violations fines.
Transport Minister S'bu Ndebele signed the memorandum on behalf of the South African government, while his Namibian counterpart Errk Nghimtina represented the Namibian government.
Ndeble said the system will help a great deal in fighting cross border crimes in the two countries. "We will assist in providing technical assistance in the implementation of the system," he said.
Ndebele said the Namibian authorities will be responsible for financing the system and plans are underway to have the system implemented in all Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
Nghimtina said the system will go a long way in preventing cross-border crimes. "We will now be able to trace stolen vehicles."
Asked about the cost for the implementation of the system, Nghimtina said they were still negotiating with service providers. "We are mainly concerned about the security," he said.
eNaTIS is a system which provides for the registration and licensing of vehicles. It manages and records applications for and authorisation of driving and learner's licences.
It is also a law enforcement tool which is used to ensure that the details of vehicles that are stolen are circulated and to prevent irregular and fraudulent re-registration of such vehicles.
