And so to the other records: with two exceptions the eNaTIS processed more than 600 000 transactions each working day in December. On 12 December 923 935 transactions were processed – once again the most for a single day since launch. New single-day records were also set for vehicle licensing transactions (61 647 on the 18th), user transactions* (544 890 on the 18th) and interface transactions** (505 383 on the 12th). In terms of monthly totals, the 6 321 054 interface transactions processed during the month also set a new record.

Vehicle introductions fell by 43.60% compared to the preceding month, and by 45.11% compared to December 2007 – in all likelihood reflecting plunging sales as reported by the industry. This is reflected also in the statistics relating to new vehicle registrations in 2008 as compared to 2007 (available here ): registration of new motor cars and station wagons fell by 24.28%, minibuses by 16.97%, and light delivery vehicles, panel vans and other light-load vehicles by 19.19%. Significantly, the registration of new motorcycles increased by 8.16% over the same period.

Two major factors contributed to the records experienced during December. On 12 December, functionality was enabled to prevent the issuing of a licence disc to a vehicle if any other vehicle of the owner in question was still unlicensed. The functionality was introduced to compel owners to also license their other vehicle(s) before obtaining a licence disc. This contributed to an increase in vehicle licensing volumes as well as related queries and reports.

On the document-processing side, more Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) infringements were recorded, and the follow-up notices sent to offenders who had not settled their outstanding fines resulted in a greater number of system-to-system transactions performed by the printing contractor.

The Johannesburg service centre once again performed the most transactions (755 561) followed by the City of Cape Town (697 069), Pretoria (520 167), Durban (333 474) and Port Elizabeth (180 362).

With 41 706 transactions BMW SA was the most active non-governmental entity using a system-to-system interface with the eNaTIS, followed by TransUnion HPI (33 588), VW of SA (32 612), Mercedes-Benz of SA (30 046) and Toyota SA (26 028).

To access a daily breakdown of the transactions performed during December 2008, click here .

Year-on-year comparisons of new and used vehicle registrations are available here and here respectively.

* User transactions are performed by users of the eNaTIS application at registering authorities, testing stations and provincial authorities.

** Interface transactions are performed on other computer systems that have interfaces to the eNaTIS (such as those of the South African Police Service, vehicle manufacturers, banks and insurance companies).