Part II: Registration of Vehicles and Registration Plates

5. Records to be kept

(1) The records to be kept in terms of section 3 of the Act shall be in forms CVR 1 and 24 and be stored on computer disc or microfiche:

Provided that in the case of a record of a temporary identification card issued, the record shall be in the form of the application made in terms of section 18 of the Act.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Registrar, as the occasion requires and from time to time, to verify the records kept in terms of subsection (1) with the applications to which they relate for authenticity.

6. Recording of gross vehicle mass

(1) Every application made in terms of section 8 of the Act for the registration of a commercial vehicle shall be accompanied by a gross mass certificate in form CVR 13.

(2) Where the registering officer is satisfied that the certificate required in terms of subsection (1) is not readily obtainable he may accept the application on completion by the applicant of an undertaking in form CVR 14 to produce the certificate within a period of 30 days.

7. Appointment of manufacturer of registration plates and third plates

(1) No person, other than a person contracted by tender to do so and appointed by the Minister, in writing, shall manufacture registration plates or third plates.

(2) Any person who wishes to manufacture registration plates or third plates shall duly complete invitation to tender forms and produce such other items in support of such tender as the Minister may reasonably request, and shall submit with such application for tender samples of the types of plates to be manufactured by him in accordance with the required specifications and standards.

(3) The Minister may in writing cancel any appointment made in terms of subsection (1) where the manufacturer fails to comply with any condition of the tender or provision of these regulations.

(4) The Minister shall cause notice of the appointment or cancellation of appointment of any manufacturer in terms of this section to be published in the Gazette.

8. Sale, manufacture, distribution & custody of registration plates & third plates

(1) No registration plate or third plate shall be sold by a manufacturer or such plates otherwise than to an authorised registering officer, and no registration plate or third plate for use by individual owners of motor vehicles or other persons may be purchased otherwise than from an authorised registering officer.

(2) No manufacturer of registration plates or third plates shall sell such plates to an authorised registering officer in excess of the price agreed between the manufacturer and the Minister and published in the Gazette.

(3) It shall be the duty of the manufacturer:

(a) to take every precaution necessary to ensure the safe custody of all manufactured registration plates and third plates within its premises; and

(b) to keep a record in the form directed by the Registrar of every registration plate and third plate sold to an authorised registering officer.

(4) A manufacturer shall, when so requested, submit to the Minister samples of registration plates or third plates manufactured by him.

(5) No person other than a manufacturer or authorised registering officer shall, without the authority of the Minister, keep in his custody, 7 or more days after the purchase thereof, any registration plate or third plate unless it is affixed to a vehicle.

(6) It shall be the duty of every person:

(a) applying for a route authority to surrender the existing registration plates and third plate of any vehicle which he intends to use to operate the service concerned; or

(b) who ceases to provide a service for which an operator’s licence was issued to surrender the registration plates and third plate of any vehicle he used to operate the service.

9. Authorisation certificate

(1) The Registrar shall, on behalf of the Minister, issue to every authorised registering officer an authorisation certificate in form CVR 36 authorising the purchase and sale on behalf of the Government of registration plates, third plates and garage licence plates, and shall as soon as practicable thereafter publish the names of authorised registering officers by notice in the Gazette.

(2) An authorisation certificate issued in terms of subsection (1) shall be displayed prominently and without obstruction in the registering office.

10. Purchase of registration plates and third plates

(1) No person shall purchase registration plates or third plates from a person other than an authorised registering officer.

(2) The manufacturer shall not supply registration plates or third plates to any person other than to the Registrar.

(3) The manufacturer shall, on delivering registration plates or third plates to the Registrar, submit to the Registrar a return in form CVR 37 showing the serial number, registration mark and number of every registration plate or third plate manufactured and delivered by him to the Registrar.

(4) The manufacturer shall be required to keep a record of every plate manufactured or delivered` by him and shall be required to produce such a record for inspection by any person authorised in writing by the Minister.

(5) The Registrar may, after consultation with the Minister, sell specific personalised registration plates by auction.

(6) An application for the allocation of personalised registration plates, third plates and registration plates shall be made in form CVR 4, and shall be accompanied by appropriate fee.

(7) Where a third plate is lost or damaged, the Registrar may issue a duplicate upon payment of appropriate fee.

(8) Where the registration plate is lost or damaged, the Registrar shall allocate a new registration mark and number for the vehicle in terms of subsection (6).

[paras (5) to (8) inserted by SI 31 of 2005 with effect from 25th February, 2005.]

11. Affixing of registration plates and third plates

(1) The registration mark and number allocated to a vehicle in terms of section 9 of the Act shall be indicated on registration plates to be affixed and maintained on such vehicle.

(2) 1 registration plate shall be affixed to the front elevation of the vehicle and 1 to the rear elevation in the recesses provided by the motor vehicle manufacturer for that purpose:

Provided that:

(i) where the number plate does not fit into the recesses provided by the motor vehicle manufacturer, such number plate shall be affixed to the front and rear elevations of the vehicle at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle;

(ii) in the case of a motor cycle or trailer, no plate need be displayed on the front elevation;

(iii) in the case of a vehicle which is being used for mayoral purposes, no plate need be displayed on the front elevation if an identification plate of white reflective material bearing the mayor’s municipal crest is displayed on such elevation.

(3) A front or rear registration plate shall be permanently affixed to the vehicle by:

(a) riveting; or

(b) fastening with metal nuts and bolts, where the bolts are well secured.

(4) Every:

(a) vehicle fitted with a front windscreen shall display a third plate in the form of a self-adhesive lamina affixed behind the windscreen of the vehicle; or

(b) trailer or motor-cycle shall display a third plate carried in a conspicuous position in a waterproof holder;

bearing the particulars specified in subsection (4) of section sixteen.

12. Shape of registration plates

Every front and rear registration plate shall be rectangular.

13. Colour of registration plates

(1) Subject to these regulations:

(a) the ground of registration plates on vehicles in respect of which operator’s licences are required shall be reflective white and the registration mark and number thereon shall be red;

(b) the ground of registration plates on vehicles owned by the Government, diplomatic missions, the District Development Fund, municipal councils, town councils, rural district councils, local boards or the Central Rates Fund shall be reflective white and the registration mark and number thereon shall be black;

(c) the ground of registration plates on all other vehicles shall be reflective yellow and the registration mark and number thereon shall be black.

(2) The ground of registration plates in any event shall bear reflective material of the following specifications of reflectivity indicated in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th columns for the colours specified in the 1st column hereunder:

(3) The colour yellow shall, as nearly as possible, be the shade known as item No. 356, Golden Yellow, in accordance with the British Standards Institution schedule of colours for ready mixed paints, reference No. 381C: 1964, as revised.

14. Arrangement of registration mark and number

The letters and figures of the registration mark and number shall be arranged in not more than 2 horizontal lines:

Provided that:

(i) where the registration mark and number comprises fewer than 5 letters and figures, the letters and figures shall be arranged in 1 horizontal line;

(ii) where the registration mark and number comprises 5 or more letters and figures, and the letters and figures are arranged in 1 horizontal line, a hyphen shall be placed between the 4th and 5th last letters or figures, as the case may be;

(iii) where the registration mark and number comprises 5 or more letters and figures, and the letters and figures are arranged in 2 horizontal lines, the last 4 letters and figures shall appear on the lower line.

15. Size, spacing, raising, inscription and style of registration mark and number

(1) The size, spacing, raising and inscription of the letters, figures and armorial bearings of Zimbabwe of the registration mark and number of every registration plate shall conform with the specifications set out in Part I of the Second Schedule.

(2) The style of the letters, figures and hyphen of the registration mark and number on every registration plate shall conform to the style set out in Part II of the Second Schedule.

16. Letters, figures and symbols on registration plates and third plates

(1) No person shall drive on any road a vehicle:

(a) if any letters, figures or symbols other than the authorised letters, figures or symbols referred to in subsection (2) appear on a registration plate or the third plate of the vehicle; or

(b) without registration plates and the third plate affixed and clearly displayed as provided for under section eleven; or

(c) displaying a registration plate other than a conventional or personalised registration plate allocated to it by a registering officer; or

(d) with more than a single set of registration plates or anything other than the registration plates requires to be affixed in terms of section eleven that may be construed to be a registration plate.

(2) the authorised letters, figures and symbols are:

(a) the vehicle registration mark and number;

(b) the armorial bearings of Zimbabwe;

(c) the Zimbabwe bird as depicted on the armorial bearings of Zimbabwe in the form of water marks;

(d) the name or trade mark of the manufacturer in laser print;

(e) the terminal date of the insurance cover of the vehicle;

(f) the terminal date of the licence;

(g) the business name of the insurer;

(h) the serial number of the registration plate;

(i) the validity inscript validating the registration plates and other particulars of a vehicle.

(3) Every front and rear shall bear the authorised letters, figures and symbols referred to in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (h) of subsection (2).

(4) Every 3rd plate shall, in addition to the authorised letters, figures and symbols referred to in subsection (3), bear the authorised letters, figures and symbols referred to in paragraphs (e), (f), (g) and (i) of subsection (2).

17. Registration plates not to be obscured

No person may use a vehicle on a road if the registration mark and number is in any way obscured or is no longer clearly legible or reflective, except from mud, dust or other temporary cause not within the driver’s control.

18. Endorsement of registration book for customs clearance

The details to be noted in the registration book in terms of paragraph (c) of section 9 of the Act on production of a customs clearance certificate shall be in the following form:

“Ownership of this vehicle may not be transferred before (date) without customs authority”.

19. Alteration of registration book prohibited

(1) No person other than a registering officer shall make any entry or alteration in any registration book:

Provided that an amendment in respect of the net or gross mass of a vehicle may be made in the registration book by an inspecting officer, and the name of a garage may be stamped on the front page of a registration book by a garage proprietor for the purposes of fuel rationing.

(2) An alteration of a registration book in terms of subsection (1) shall be deemed to be an alteration in terms of subsection (3) of section 17 of the Act, but shall not release the owner from his obligation under section 30 of the Act.

20. Certification of police clearance and roadworthiness in respect of the registration of certain motor vehicles

(1) In this section:

“certificate of roadworthiness” means the appropriate certificate prescribed in the Second Schedule to the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use) Regulations, 2010, published in SI 154/2010.

[RGN 412 of 1972 was replaced by the above with effect from the 1st July, 2011.]

(2) A registering officer shall not register:

(a) any change of ownership of a motor vehicle unless there is produced to him:

(i) a police clearance certificate in form CVR 35; or

(ii) the form CVR 4 or CVR 4A relating to the vehicle endorsed by the police officer who examined the vehicle, with a police date-stamp in token of the officer’s opinion that the vehicle was not stolen;

(b) any motor vehicle which has had a previous registration cancelled other than in terms of paragraph (b) of section 12 of the Act unless there is produced to him a certificate of roadworthiness;

(c) any motor vehicle which has been built up or assembled from parts of another motor vehicle unless there is produced to him:

(i) a police clearance certificate in form CVR 35 or endorsement as described in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a); and

(ii) a certificate of roadworthiness.

(3) Before the issue of a police clearance certificate for the purposes of subsection (2), the police officer charged with the issue of such certificate shall examine the car in respect of which the police clearance certificate is sought and shall not issue such certificate unless he is satisfied that the motor vehicle or any part or accessory thereof has not been stolen.

(4) Before the issue of a certificate of roadworthiness for the purposes of subsection (2), the inspecting officer shall inspect the car in respect of which the certificate of roadworthiness is sought and shall not issue such certificate unless he is satisfied that the motor vehicle is roadworthy.

21. Issue of personalised registration plates by the Registrar

(1) The owner of any vehicle wishing to display a personalised registration plate may, subject to this section, make an application accompanied by the appropriate fee to the Registrar in form CVR 4A.

(2) Upon considering an application in terms of subsection (1) the Registrar may allocate a personalised registration mark or number to the vehicle in respect of which the application was made if the following conditions are met:

(a) the personalised registration mark or number applied for:

(i) comprises 8 letters or figures complying with the provisions of the Second Schedule; and

(ii) is not identical with that of any conventional or personalised registration mark or number allocated to another vehicle, or so nearly resembles another such registration mark or number as to be likely to deceive; and

(iii) is not, in the Registrar’s opinion, likely to mislead the public or cause offence to any person or class of persons, or indecent or blasphemous or undesirable for any other reason;

and

(b) in the case of a vehicle to which a registration mark and number has previously been allocated, the existing registration plates and 3rd plate are surrendered.