South Africans and other motorists who hold a Traffic Register Number (TRN) are being urged to check their status after the Department of Transport published a notice warning that certain dormant TRNs could be cancelled.
The Department says a joint verification exercise with the Department of Transport and Home Affairs confirmed that certain TRNs issued between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2023 are dormant.
Importantly, the Department says not every TRN issued during this period is affected. The process specifically applies to natural persons whose TRNs appear on the Department’s published dormant list.
What is a dormant TRN?
A Traffic Register Number is used by people who do not have a South African identity number to conduct lawful transactions on NaTIS, including vehicle registration, licensing and driving licence-related transactions.
The Department’s current notice does not state that simply failing to use a TRN for a particular number of years automatically makes it dormant.
Instead, certain TRNs have been identified as dormant through the Department’s verification exercise with Home Affairs.
What happens if your TRN is on the dormant list?
This is where motorists need to pay attention.
The Department says TRNs that appear to be dormant will be cancelled 30 days after publication of the notice unless they are confirmed active through the verification process.
If your TRN appears on the list, you must submit a representation at a designated Provincial Department of Transport site within the 30-day period.
What documents do you need?
The Department says affected TRN holders must provide:
- A Temporary Identity Certificate or valid South African ID, where applicable
- An unexpired passport
- A temporary permit or other recognised identity document, where applicable
- Two photographs
- Proof of residential address
The documents must be submitted physically. They cannot be uploaded online.
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For foreign nationals, the Department says the TRN is linked to documentation issued by Home Affairs. Those whose TRNs appear on the dormant list may therefore also need to contact Home Affairs to update their source documents.
What if you do nothing?
This is the part motorists should not overlook.
The Department’s public notice states that dormant TRNs for which no representation is received within 30 days will be formally cancelled on NaTIS.
People who submit the required information can check the outcome of their verification within 90 days from the date they submitted their documents.
Check your TRN status
The Department has launched an online portal allowing natural persons who obtained TRNs between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2023 to check whether their TRN appears on the dormant list.
Check your TRN status here:
Department of Transport TRN Status Checker
If your TRN appears on the dormant list, don’t leave it until the last minute. The 30-day period is the opportunity provided by the Department to submit your representation and supporting documents before cancellation.
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