Bliksem, it’s easy to get a bum rap from Cape licence nannies

WESTERN Cape transport authorities, renowned for their rules and regulations, have allowed a bit of bathroom humour loose on the road.

Vehicles owned by plumbing companies are sporting some cheeky personalised number plates in Cape Town.

OH CRAP — WP is a regular eyebrow twitcher during the morning peak-hour rush into the CBD. And BUMMER — WP leaves some motorists flushed at shopping centres on the West Coast.

Personalised number plates are a touchy subject in this part of the country, which is occasionally lambasted by critics for being a nanny state where dog owners who allow their pets to bark more than six minutes an hour can be fined.

The provincial department of transport, which scrutinises applications for licence plates, has a comprehensive list of custom plates which are deemed to be “offensive” or “undesirable”.

“A licence number that, in the opinion of the department, may be offensive,” according to an official policy document, is guaranteed to get the chop.

The banned list contains at least 74 words, many of which are unsuitable to mention in a family newspaper. Among the less jarring examples are the words: GETME, THULA, BLIKSEM, REAPER, EFFOFF, MANIAC, XMYBUTT, BEVONK, OHFORK, FUHRER and WITCH.

JOUMASE — WP is strictly verboten. It is accompanied on the list by a warning in capital letters: “NOT SUITABLE 4 PUBLIC VIEWING!”

But many colourful and creative licence plates do slip through the cracks, causing a smile or a frown in the traffic.

The plumbing licence plates doing the rounds were not found to be offensive.

“The two personalised plates in question were issued by this department in keeping with the prescripts in the policy document,” said Siphesihle Dube, spokesman for Transport and Public Works MEC Donald Grant.