| (1) | If a motor vehicle is stolen, the owner of such motor vehicle shall— |
| (a) | report the theft to the South African Police Service, within 24 hours after he or she has become aware of such theft; |
| (b) | notify the title holder forthwith of the theft; |
| (c) | within seven days after the date upon which he or she has become aware of the theft, if the motor vehicle concerned has not been recovered during such period, notify the appropriate registering authority of such theft by forwarding form CNV as shown in Schedule 2, to such registering authority; and |
[Regulation 54(1)(c) substituted by regulation 2(p) of Notice No. R. 1066 of 2005]
| (d) | submit the registration certificate of the motor vehicle concerned to the registering authority concerned, if such certificate is in such owner's possession. |
| (2) | A change of title holder or owner of a motor vehicle reported stolen shall not be recorded in the register of motor vehicles unless such change results from— |
| (a) | an agreement of indemnity against the theft of such motor vehicle; or |
| (b) | an agreement between the owner and the title holder of such motor vehicle. |
| (3) | The title holder of the motor vehicle referred to in subregulation (1) shall— |
| (a) | within three months after the date on which he or she was notified of the theft, notify the appropriate registering authority of such theft on form ADV as shown in Schedule 2; and |
[Regulation 54(3)(a) substituted by regulation 2(q) of Notice No. R. 1066 of 2005]
| (b) | if the registration certificate of such motor vehicle has not been submitted by the owner under subregulation (1)(d), submit such certificate and the notification referred to in paragraph (a) to the appropriate registering authority. |
| (4) | On receipt of the notification referred to in subregulation (1)(c) or (3)(a), the registering authority shall— |
| (a) | ensure that such notification is in order; |
| (b) | update the particulars pertaining to the motor vehicle concerned in the register of motor vehicles; |
| (c) | in the case of the notification referred to in subregulation (3)(a), issue a deregistration certificate on form VDC as shown in Schedule 2, to the title holder of the motor vehicle concerned; and |
| (d) | issue an acknowledgement of receipt of the notification referred to in subregulation (1)(c) on form ARN as shown in Schedule 2. |
| (5) | If a registering authority has in terms of subregulation (4)(d) acknowledged receipt of the notification referred to in subregulation (1)(c), or if the owner reported the theft to the South African Police Service, the owner of the motor vehicle concerned is exempt from liability for the licensing of such motor vehicle, with effect from the first day of the month following the month in which such acknowledgment was issued, or following the month in which the owner reported the theft, as the case may be: Provided that a period during which the owner of such motor vehicle was unable to notify the appropriate registering authority or the South African Police Service, due to circumstances beyond his or her control, shall be disregarded. |
[Regulation 54(5) substituted by regulation 18 of Notice No. 2116 of 2001]
| (6) | If the motor vehicle referred to in subregulation (1) is recovered after an acknowledgement of receipt has been issued as contemplated in subregulation (4)(d) and prior to the issue of a deregistration certificate as contemplated in subregulation (4)(c), the owner of such motor vehicle shall— |
| (a) | within 24 hours after such recovery, notify the South African Police Service thereof; |
[Regulation 54(6)(a) substituted by regulation 13(a) of Notice No. R. 881 of 2004]
| (b) | notify the title holder and the appropriate registering authority forthwith of such recovery; and |
(Regulation 54(6)(b) substituted by regulation 13(b) of Notice No. R. 881 of 2004]
| (c) | apply for the licensing of such motor vehicle as referred to in regulation 24, which application shall be accompanied by a South African Police Service clearance of the motor vehicle and a duly completed form CCL as shown in Schedule 2. |
[Regulation 54(6)(c) inserted by regulation 13(c) of Notice No. R. 881 of 2004]
| (7) | If a motor vehicle record has been updated in terms of subregulation (4)(b), the record of the motor vehicle may be moved to the archive of the register on any date 15 years after the date on which such update took place. |
[Regulation 54(7) substituted by regulation 23(c) of Notice No. R. 1341 of 2003]
| (8) | The MEC concerned may decide to allocate another licence number or decide that another personalised licence number be allocated in terms of regulations 25(2)(b), 25(3)(c), 27(3), 27(5), 28(5) or 29 to a motor vehicle which has been stolen as contemplated in subregulation (1) and the registering authority shall not be liable for any costs incurred in this regard. |
[Regulation 54(8) inserted by regulation 15 of Notice No. R. 404 of 2007]
| (9) | The licence number or personalised licence number allocated to a motor vehicle at the time a deregistration certificate is issued as contemplated in subregulation (4)(c), shall not be allocated to any motor vehicle in terms of regulations 25(2)(b), 25(3)(c), 27(3), 27(5), 28(5) or 29 until such time as the South African Police Service has released such licence number for allocation to a motor vehicle. |
[Regulation 54(9) inserted by regulation 15 of Notice No. R. 404 of 2007]
