City traffic authorities have turned down and/or banned 74 new vanity plate applications due to their overtly religious, sexist, racist tone, as well as insensitivity and/or rude connotations. This list also includes a number of undesirable plates already issued that have received numerous complaints from motorists.
Plates brandishing the words ‘Fuhrer’ and ‘Nazi’ have been met with stern opposition from the Jewish Board of Deputies. In a case involving a Capetonian man, Neels Stander, with the plates ‘Fuhrer – WP’ a case of intimidation was brought before the Belville Magistrates Court when a Jo’Burg man took offence to his vanity plates and allegedly threatened to lock him in his car boot and set him alight. Stander subsequently surrendered his plates and forfeited his fees without complaint.
Other vanity plates that have been banned include the following: Witch, Thula, Blixem, Voodoo, Demon, X Rated, Virgin, Devil, Eff Off and Voetsek. An application for a license plate with the words ’2 White’ was also allegedly rejected due to its “racist and sarcastic connotations”.
We can see the sense in some of the above words being banned, but as for the others, are we not getting a little overly sensitive South Africa? After all, isn’t having a stupid vanity plate punishment enough for those of us who choose to have them? What are the worst and best vanity plates you’ve ever seen?
