BRNC Certificate in South Africa: How to Get One (2026 Guide)

What a BRNC is (and what it isn’t)

eNaTIS, the national traffic register, identifies every vehicle owner by an identity number. A person uses their SA ID. A company doesn’t have one, so the registering authority issues it a business register number the first time it needs to own a vehicle. The Business Register Number Certificate is the document recording that number, issued at your local traffic department under the National Road Traffic Act, 1996. Think of it as an ID book for your company, but only in the eyes of the traffic system.

Two things it is not. It is not your CIPC registration certificate: the CoR 14.3 proves your company exists, the BRNC lets it own vehicles, and the counter will ask for both. And it is not a licence that renews. Once issued, the number is yours until the company’s details change.

You’ll see the name written both ways: “Business Register Number” on the form itself, “Business Registration Number” on some municipal websites. Same document. The form has barely moved in decades either; the copy hosted by the KZN Department of Transport hasn’t been touched since 2010. Government paperwork ages like that when it works.

Who needs one

Any juristic person putting a vehicle in its own name: a Pty Ltd buying a bakkie, a Close Corporation with a delivery fleet, a trust holding a caravan. You apply once, before or during the first vehicle registration. If a dealership has just asked you for one mid-purchase, that’s the normal way to find out it exists.

Sole proprietors don’t need one. A sole proprietorship isn’t a separate legal person, so the vehicle goes on the owner’s own ID number.

The documents traffic departments ask for

This is the section to screenshot. An incomplete pack means a second queue, and registering authorities don’t bend on certification dates.

How to apply, step by step

1. 1

   Complete form ABR

   Download the official form from the KZN Department of Transport.pdf) or collect one at your traffic department. Fill in the business details exactly as they appear on your CIPC documents. A mismatch between the form and the certificate is a common reason to be sent home.
2. 2

   Appoint your proxy and prepare the two letters

   Decide who will represent the company on eNaTIS, then put both letters on your letterhead: the proxy nomination and the BRNC request. Templates are further down this page.
3. 3

   Certify your copies

   The proxy’s ID and your CIPC documents need certified copies, stamped within the last 3 months. Any police station, post office, or commissioner of oaths does this free.
4. 4

   Submit in person at a registering authority

   Take the pack to your local traffic department or licensing office. There is no online channel: eNaTIS has no public portal for business register numbers, so a counter visit is unavoidable. The proxy should go in person, with their original ID.
5. 5

   Pay the admin fee and collect your certificate

   Some offices issue the certificate on the spot; others take up to 3 weeks. Ask before you leave the counter, and get a contact number to follow up on.

What it costs and how long it takes

Here’s the honest part: there is no published national fee. Each registering authority sets its own admin charge, and the figures people report are anywhere from under R100 to around R300 at the counter. Phone your traffic department before you go, both to confirm the fee and to check which desks handle BRNC applications. If you’d rather skip the queue entirely, private vehicle registration agencies will submit for you, typically for R500 to R1,000 on top of the official charge.

Turnaround is just as office-dependent. Some registering authorities print the certificate while you wait; others send the application away and take two to three weeks. Ask at the counter before you leave, and get a number to phone for follow-up.

The two letters: copy-paste templates

The application needs two letters on company letterhead, one appointing the proxy and one requesting the number. Nothing about them is difficult, but nobody warns you they’re required, and a missing letter means starting the queue again another day. Copy these, replace the bracketed parts, print on your letterhead, and have a director sign.

[Your company letterhead]

To: The Registering Authority
Date: [date]

Appointment of proxy: [Company Name (Pty) Ltd],
registration number [2019/123456/07]

We hereby appoint [full name], identity number
[ID number], as the proxy of [company name] for all
transactions on the National Traffic Information
System (eNaTIS), including the application for a
business register number and the registration and
licensing of motor vehicles in the company's name.

Signed at [place] on [date].

[Director's name]
Director, [company name]

[Your company letterhead]

To: The Registering Authority
Date: [date]

Application for a business register number:
[Company Name (Pty) Ltd]

We request that a business register number be
allocated to [company name], registration number
[2019/123456/07], of [business address]. The
completed form ABR and supporting documents
accompany this letter.

Our appointed proxy is [full name], identity
number [ID number].

[Director's name]
Director, [company name]

A few registering authorities prefer their own wording. If yours does, they’ll hand you a specimen at the counter and you can redo the letter on the spot, so bring blank letterhead if you have it.

After you have it

The certificate doesn’t expire, and one BRNC covers every vehicle the company ever registers. There are only two situations where you’ll deal with it again:

• The company’s details change. A new name, address, or proxy means resubmitting the application with the updated documents. Budget the same trip and roughly the same timeline as the original.
• Losing the certificate. Apply for a duplicate at the same counter, with a DCT declaration form (declaration in respect of lost documents) added to the usual pack.