WeBuyCars launches an online car registration platform

South Africa’s Number one Car Buying Service, WeBuyCars, together with with The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), is pioneering an online registration of motor vehicles and a change of ownership process.

The online platform is offering an even more efficient method for motor vehicle dealers and financial institutions to transact directly with Natis. Now there is no longer any need to handle documents or visits physically to registering authorities when buying and selling a car.

This also reduces waiting times when buying and selling a car as the process is handled online with rapid turnaround times. Before the platform was created, vehicle dealers had to use the services of a middleman to register and change ownership when they bought and sold cars. The system was associated with filling in large amounts of paperwork, standing in lengthy queues at licencing authorities, and long waiting periods.

The new online system is an expansion of the current Natis system, offers a faster and more seamless experience. It was first launched in 2022 and has been in operation on a trial basis at WeBuyCars to test its efficiency and allow the RTMC to identify areas of improvement. The RTMC has now opened the platform to all motor vehicle dealers and financial service providers in South Africa.

The CEO for WeBuyCars, Faan van der Walt revealed that they created the online system out of frustration with the problems experienced with the previous car registration and licensing process.

He also mentioned that previously you were unsure if you could successfully register a vehicle after purchasing it from the owner. “The registration document might be fraudulent or out of date. So, it was always a gamble when buying a car,” he added. So this new system is able to give dealerships the chance to check online whether the cars they buy are legitimate. Registration is also instantaneous.

Users will also get peace of mind that when they sell a car to a participating dealership, it is immediately off their name. Even though this is a positive first step, he said that going fully digital to buy and sell a car will take time.

The first step was the launch of the system to register and do notifications of change of ownership online. “This is the first step towards going digital,” he said. “Hopefully, in future, South African car dealerships and individuals will be able to buy and sell cars completely paperless.”

The new online registration system is currently only available to car dealerships and financial institutions, with a public launch set for next year.