(Issued by Mr Werner Koekemoer - Department of Transport)

The National Department of Transport has earmarked strategic State resources to improve the existing transport infrastructures of South Africa. In terms of Road Traffic Management, the current National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) is a vital State resource towards achieving the continuous improvement of transport infrastructure management.

What are the NaTIS and the eNaTIS?

The NaTIS is the national register and asset that stores, records, manages and enforces the requirements of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) and the National Road Traffic Regulations (NRTR).

It provides for the registration and licensing of vehicles. It manages and records applications for and authorisations of driving and learner’s licences. It is 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. It serves as a register for recording the decisions of safety as provided by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). This process, where the SABS is linked to the NaTIS, ensures that only vehicles that meet our country’s stringent safety standards are allowed to be registered in this country. 

Why change from the NaTIS to the eNaTIS?

The NaTIS is 14 years old and has severe technical limitations in terms of the State’s national strategic plan. The age and the technological limitations of the NaTIS have forced the National Department of Transport to switch to more advanced technology.

What are the benefits of the eNaTIS?

The eNaTIS utilises more up-to-date technology that will be compatible with a variety of anticipated systems enhancements. For example, the State wants to improve law enforcement capabilities and the eNaTIS will enable the use of a portable law enforcement terminal which is hand-held and battery-operated. This terminal will provide real-time information on fraudulent driving or vehicle licences.

As a strategic resource for the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and Road Traffic Infringement Agencies (RTIAs) the eNaTIS will ensure that all infringements are centralised within the eNaTIS data base to provide improved service with regard to the payment of traffic fines, etc.

The eNaTIS will also be a means to record and read fingerprints (a future enhancement made possible by the technology), thereby also combating identity fraud.  The web-based capability of the eNaTIS will ensure that the key elements of Batho Pele (people first) are addressed. Road-traffic-related services can be made available on wider platforms such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and the Internet.

On inception the eNaTIS will already have new functionality that was not part of the NaTIS. The new driving licence booking system will validate examiners, testing centres and appointments, and prevent unscrupulous officials from abusing the system by extorting money from the public in order to obtain driving licence appointments.

Furthermore, the eNaTIS will now have functionality to control all face-value documents and future enhancements will also incorporate strict electronic tagging of documents to eradicate the continuous falsification of vehicle licences, registration certificates and driving licence cards.

How will the public be affected?

The National Department of Transport considered all possible scenarios in the planning of the eNaTIS launch. Of critical importance was that service delivery should not be affected and that every effort should be made not to inconvenience the South African public.

The Department, in the build-up to the launch of the eNaTIS, met with various role-players such as vehicle manufacturers, importers of vehicles and builders of vehicles.  In this regard information was provided on the enhancements that the eNaTIS will provide for their core business and also how the launch of the eNaTIS will occur.

In addition the Department met with representatives of the Banking Council of South Africa and the short-term insurance industry, briefing them on the forthcoming eNaTIS. In this regard the Department provided a platform where industry concerns could be raised. This may result in future enhancements to the eNaTIS to address such concerns.

All nine provincial departments of transport and their agents were briefed on the system and business implications of the eNaTIS. These parties in turn informed local role-players, such as motor dealers, of the forthcoming eNaTIS.

As part of the build-up to the eNaTIS all the above-mentioned role-players were exposed, either in part or totally, to the eNaTIS functionality by means of dry runs.

In December 2006 the provinces participated in a small-scale dry run of the eNaTIS functionality. In this regard the public, motor dealers and financial institutions got their first glimpse of the eNaTIS. On 12 March 2007 the eNaTIS functionality was tested countrywide when the eNaTIS had its first national dry run. All the aforementioned testing was geared towards a system readiness test, as part of systems planning.

In addition daily dry runs were executed and training provided by provincial departments to ensure eNaTIS readiness on the part of important role-players such as private vehicle testing stations.

As can be seen considerable information on and exposure to the eNaTIS has been provided for a considerable period, yet the Department acknowledges that more can be done to inform the uninformed. However, a number of instances of inaccurate media reporting caused unnecessary confusion.

The eNaTIS website, www.enatis.com, provides detailed information on the eNaTIS and its system launch dates. The Department would, however, like to inform the public at large of the eNaTIS schedule.

The following dates and terms are important in understanding the rollout of the eNaTIS:

Data extraction day (5 April 2007) – This is the day on which the NaTIS is shut down and the data is copied out and couriered to Midrand, where the eNaTIS data centre is located. Once all the data is copied off the NaTIS the system will be restarted and will only be available for enquiries.

Changeover period (6 April 2007 to 12 April 2007) – This is the period during which the NaTIS data is loaded onto the eNaTIS and system readiness is tested. This period may last for a few days.

eDate (13 April 2007) – This is the date on which the eNaTIS is commissioned and goes live.

The planned launch of the eNaTIS will take place over Easter weekend, when registering authorities and driving licence testing centres will be closed. It is anticipated that road-traffic-related services will be unavailable for two days only.